A pack of stray dogs raid woman’s chicken coops Wednesday leaving only feathers behind.
by Michael Robinson | Uvalde Hesperian; Pictures by Robinson
Top Picture: Two stray does were seen on one of the roads inside of Uvalde Estates.
Uvalde Estates is located a few miles outside of the City of Uvalde just off of Highway 83 South and is an unincorporated community with a mix of traditional houses, manufactured houses and trailers.
The area called Uvalde Estates consists of a large area with a lot of brush country land around the individual residences. According to Wikipedia and the US Census Bureau, Uvalde Estates has a total area of 5.9 square miles,”
On Wednesday morning, October 26th, Luz Martinez, who is retired resident of Uvalde Estates, heard dogs outside of her house and went out to find a pack of four stray dogs who had just broken through the chicken wire of two chicken coops and killed all of her chickens which she keeps.
Martinez acquired the chicks last year and she stated they just started laying eggs this year.
Martinez said that the dogs that raided her chicken coops were black with some being big and some small. She said the dogs even ate the eggs.
The Uvalde Hesperian found out about the incident from a mutual friend and was invited to come over to meet with Martinez. Upon arrival at about 11 AM, a Uvalde County Sheriff’s Officer was seen completing his report and was about to patrol the area looking for the dogs that killed Martinez’s chickens. Only feathers remained according to Martinez.
“They tore the chicken wire. And some of them went underneath the chicken wire. Three weeks ago they attacked my brother’s chickens,” Martinez said.
Martinez said she has a rifle that is used for deer hunting and while she doesn’t want to shoot the dogs, she will.
Martinez, who has resided in Uvalde Estates for many years, said the stray dog problem is getting worse.
Diana Olvedo-Karau who founded Maddie’s Dog Rescue in 2020 is familiar with the stray dog situation at Uvalde Estates.
“Thankfully, there are many people that live in the Uvalde Estates area that are familiar with Maddie’s Dog Rescue and reach out to us when there is a need for help.
We make every effort to take as many dogs as we can, and when we are not able to do so we provide additional resources for those that contact us to pursue. Part of the challenge for residents of Uvalde Estates is that Uvalde county does not currently have any significant ordinances that address the stray population specifically in terms of needing to keep dogs behind a fence, on a leash, etc.
They also have no shelter resources for dogs to be picked up and so unless the dog is extremely aggressive or attacks a human the Uvalde County Sheriff does not get involved in the City of Uvalde animal control cannot respond,” Olvedo-Karau said.
