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Bluetown Resident Noticing Uptick in Strays

5 years 10 months 3 weeks ago Tuesday, May 01 2018 May 1, 2018 May 01, 2018 6:04 PM May 01, 2018 in News

BLUETOWN – From cats to dogs, a Cameron County man says strays are causing problems to his home and property.

While CHANNEL 5 NEWS crews were out in Bluetown, they noticed several dogs and cats freely roaming around the area.

Robert Martinez, a resident of Bluetown, says they were harmless until they started getting a little too friendly.

"They disrupt everything that's in boxes or what have you," he says.

He says they really start to bother him whenever it's time to eat.

"Especially when my wife is cooking, they know that it's food that she is cooking," said Martinez.

He said recently he's seen an uptick in strays. Martinez adds in some cases, they tore up car covers and caused other minor damages.

The county says they are aware of this issue plaguing the area.

"We get us a number amount of calls throughout the county. But yes, we do visit Bluetown, Santa Maria," explains Gustavo Olivares, the Cameron County Environmental Health director.

Olivares says when it comes to strays, they have around five people on staff for animal control.

He says this is for the entire county, not including major cities with their own animal control unit like Brownsville and Harlingen.

Olivares adds with a lot of ground to cover, they handle calls based on priority.

“Dog attacks, dogs at schools, dog bites, things like that,” he says.

Something else Olivares said the county is doing is requiring pet owners to register their pets.

"In case we encounter your animal running at large we know who the owners are,” he says. “We are able to document and find the owners.”

Martinez said he hopes action is taken soon before his new neighbors bring more of their friends.

Cameron County recently opened a new shelter in San Benito as their old one was at capacity for animals.

For those who live in the county, you can report strays to the shelter at 956-247-3599.

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