County Sheriff is a Key Player in Correcting
Pet Overpopulation
The demographics of Hill County define its rural nature
as one in which over 60% of its citizens live in areas without local (city) law
enforcement. Their only source of law
enforcement protection is the Hill County Sheriff’s
Office. Over 70% of Hill County’s
citizens live in areas without a dedicated Animal Control Officer (only Hillsboro
and Whitney have Animal Control Officers).
By default, according to State law, in these areas without an animal control office,
Hill County Sheriff’s Office becomes
the “animal control authority” (as clearly
defined in Texas Health and Safety Code 822.001).
This fact makes the office of the Hill County Sheriff an important community
position and critical member in the county’s team to correct its worsening and menacing
pet overpopulation issue.
Pet overpopulation and the dangers it brings can only
be corrected by embracing three proactive programs that work simultaneously
together. These programs also need
the support of a central, physical animal shelter as its nucleus—of which Hill County
Paw Pals has been working hard for the past four years to facilitate.
The essential proactive programs in correcting pet overpopulation are Education,
Sterilization and Legislation. Paw
Pals has been working successfully with its education program—the most important. The program of Sterilization includes
Paw Pals’ sponsorship of the monthly Low Cost Sterilization and Vaccination Clinic
which has demonstrated great success with over 1,200 pet sterilizations and 3,500
rabies vaccinations being administered. Legislation,
which is of equal importance, should be thought of as the “long arm of the law”
and this is where the Sheriff’s Office
becomes a key player.
Pet overpopulation stems mostly from irresponsible people
who refuse to be educated—this is where law enforcement, or legislation, comes into
play. Again, because Hill County is
rural in nature with over 70% of its citizens living in areas outside an animal
control officer to serve them, the Sheriff’s
Office becomes the enforcer of
existing State of Texas animal control laws.
These laws, if proactively enforced, would bring correction
to our county’s pet overpopulation issue by adjusting irresponsible pet owners’
attitudes with necessary fines. A partial
list of these laws are: Rabies law in which all dogs and cats must be vaccinated
at 4 months of age, animal cruelty laws that include the prohibition of abandoning
(“dumping’) dogs and cats or not properly caring for (feeding) animals, not allowing
a dog to be chained to a fixed object for more than three hours of the day, registering
dangerous dogs with animal control or Sheriff Office and acquiring $100,000 liability
insurance, not allowing a dog that is known to chase/kill livestock to be at large,
and ensure communities rid their “strays” only with methods prescribed by law (lethal
injection or certified carbon monoxide chamber) and dumping or shooting is illegal
and not one of the options.
Animal control becomes a serious responsibility for the
Sheriff’s Office in that over 16,000
dogs and cats (this figure does not include “strays”) live with families in the
area of responsibility of the Sheriff’s Office. Citizens can help in demonstrating their
civic duty by reporting violations of animal control laws by calling the
Sheriff’s Office at (254) 582-5313—they are employed to serve and protect
and are the animal control authority for the majority of Hill County.
Do you want to help bring needed correction to Hill County’s pet overpopulation
issue? If so, then please attend our
public meeting at 6:30pm, Thursday, January 3, in the Bullock Room of Hill College
Cafeteria. Our invited speakers will
be Lt. Jeff Lyons, Candidate for Hill County Sheriff, and Mr. Milton Stuckey, Candidate
for County Commissioner - Precinct #3.
For more information about Hill County Paw Pals, call (254) 580-0679 or visit our
website at hcpawpals.org.