Groups see a rise in dog dumping

TEXARKANA — Area animal rescues, both public and privately operated, are experiencing an increase in stray dogs being abandoned or surrendered.

The Texarkana Animal Care and Adoption Center receives almost 50 calls a week from pet owners wanting to surrender their animals, Executive Director Lenor Teague said.

“We’ve all had to start turning dogs away. It’s really bad. It’s a crisis,” she said. “I feel like something’s got to be done with the owners of these animals because it’s just so many — and the shelters can’t house them.”

Teague mentioned a Time magazine article from January 2024 reporting that the number of stray dogs taken in by shelters increased by 6% year over year from January 2023 to November 2023.

“To include rescue groups, they’re funded out of their own pockets. They do ask for donations, and they do get some, but it’s nowhere near what meets the needs for all the animals that they pick up,” she said.

Greg and Latrell King operate Greg King Canine Recovery, a nonprofit that specializes in canine rescue and transportation to Illinois and Michigan, states that have mandatory spaying and neutering laws.

“It’s such a problem because people just don’t have the money,” Latrell King said. “A lot of people would be willing to spay and neuter their animals, but food, rent and so forth comes first.”

King said animal owners, when adopting, don’t look down the road and realize the responsibility involved.

“I would say, 200 a month would be a fair estimate of the people that contact us,” King said. “Greg’s voicemail is full, and it will fill up. We have two terabytes of cloud storage. We also have my cell number, then the rescue email and my email.”

At the time of the interview, King said she and her husband were taking care of approximately 75 dogs and puppies.

Brandi Vickers, owner of local boutique The Cracked Pearl, came across three abandoned dogs on Crossroads Parkway this week.

Vickers’ initial social media post said there was a dead dog in a thin garbage bag, as well as a 3- to 4-month-old dead puppy lying near it, with an emaciated female dog standing guard over the two bodies.

“It was so bad to see that dog like that, because she wasn’t leaving,” Vickers said. “Somebody just dumped them in a ditch like they were nothing, and the dog was not leaving them.”

Vickers said she had watched the dog for three days and the dog hadn’t left the ditch once.

“We were out there from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.” getting the dog into a kennel, she said.

Vickers said that she, Debbi Pound, Jan Wall Gann and Emma Johnson worked to earn the trust of the dog, who is now named Treasure. Texarkana, Texas, animal control officers collected the two dead dogs.

“Something’s got to be done. My whole news feed is constantly pets being dumped,” Vickers said. “If you can’t get a pet and take care of it like you would your child, you don’t need a pet.”