One Hollybluff Street resident says a pair of large dogs have freely roamed around people’s yards, barked at residents and have even chased and scratched people.
AUSTIN, Texas — A pair of loose dogs are roaming around a North Austin neighborhood and frightening residents.
Shanti Deva, who’s lived in the Hollybluff neighborhood for 20 years, says there’s usually plenty of love for animals in the community.
“There are a lot of pet owners,” Deva said. “I foster dogs, my neighbors foster dogs.”
However, Deva says there’s only concern surrounding these two dogs on their block.
“I don’t feel safe. I don’t feel safe about my dogs. I don’t feel safe about my friends,” she said.
Back in March, Deva says she first noticed a tan dog and a black and gray dog running around loose.
“I thought that it was an accident,” Deva explained. “I thought they got out of somebody’s yard and somebody would be along to collect them. Then I saw them again and again,”
Deva says her neighbors a couple of doors down are their owners who frequently let them roam the neighborhood.
“They’ll be in my driveway, they’ll be in yards up and down the street. They’ll typically stay on this street, but I’ve seen them several streets over in all directions,” Deva said.
She says the dogs aren’t friendly either.
“There was a moment where the tan dog sort of hunched down and acted like he was going to charge me. He wasn’t wagging his tail,” Deva said. “I’m not a dog whisperer, but I’m fairly comfortable with dogs and he did not have a friendly stance.”
For months, Deva says she’s had difficulty getting to her car, inside her home, or even walking her own dogs around because of it.
“Sometimes my boyfriend will come out with me with a baseball bat to kind of help protect me in case the dogs come up,” she explained.
Deva says she’s not the only one with a bad experience. She says neighbors have told her that the dogs bark at them, chase them around, and that one neighbor was even scratched to the point of drawing blood.
She says at least 10 homeowners are afraid of the dogs.
“We have some neighbors across the street that are elderly, and they’ve lived in this neighborhood for possibly 60 years,” Deva said. “When they go for walks in the neighborhood now, they carry a large stick so that if a dog comes, they can at least try and protect themselves.”
Deva says she’s called 311 eight to nine times and has called 911 twice for her safety. She says so have at least 10 of her neighbors.
“We have called 911, collectively, possibly 50-60 times. As far as I know, they haven’t done anything,” she says.
Deva says animal control shows up once out of every 15 calls or reports. She says when they do come, nothing much is done.
“I understand that there’s loose dogs all over the city and they are short staffed, but I feel like at this point, enough calls have been made where action should be taken,” Deva said.
KVUE reached out to the Austin Animal Center, which responds to 311 calls related to animals in the city. The center said on record that they have 17 calls to the address, and the dog’s owners have not been home when they have responded. The owners have been issued warnings, according to the Austin Animal Center.
The center said if animal control catches the dogs roaming in real time, a violation will be issued with up to a $500 fine.
Deva says not only do they want to feel safe, but for the dogs to be safe too.
“We want these dogs to have a good home where they are taken care of, where they’re not in danger of being hit by cars,” she said. “So, if they get loose again, what do I do? Call 311? That’s not working.”
Deva says she and her neighbors do not wish to take an further action to protect themselves from the dogs because there’s still love for animals in their community.
KVUE also went to the alleged home of the dogs, but the owners did not answer the door.
The Austin Animal Center says since pets are property, the only way they would be able to take a pet away from an owner is through a court order.
They say if the dogs are aggressive, neighbors can open a Dangerous Dog case and potentially get the state to declare the dogs dangerous. The owners would then have to comply with dangerous dog laws.
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