FRONTON – Dozens of dogs are causing problems for some people living in Fronton. One woman said her calls for help to the county went unanswered.

A pack of dogs are overrunning a neighborhood in Fronton. Some residents are afraid to even walk out of their homes. One resident said she feels helpless.

“There’s a lot of ferocious dogs. If someone goes to check their mail, then the entire group of dogs follows and they’re mean,” the woman said.

The resident wanted to conceal her identity. She’ll be referred to as Wanda.

Wanda said for months someone in a particular home has been keeping dozens of dogs on their property. One of the problems, she said, the dogs are everywhere but on their owner’s property.

“But the dogs, they’re loose. They have holes and they get out from underneath the fence and they come all the way over here, by the church too,” Wanda said.

The woman said she is afraid to leave her house. She said she feels the need to carry a stick to check her mail.

“They could bite someone,” she said. “You can’t leave because they’re aggressive.”

CHANNEL 5 NEWS wanted to speak to the person Wanda claims is keeping the dogs. We waited for more than two hours for someone to come outside. No one ever came out.

Wanda said she’s asked the county and city officials to look into her neighborhood’s dog problems. She said her calls for help have gone unanswered.

“There’s nowhere to report it to because there’s no animal control and the city of Rio Grande can’t,” Wanda said.

We spoke to Starr County Judge Eloy Vera about Wanda’s concerns.

“Each commissioner precinct takes care of their stray dogs. We don’t have a countywide facility or anything like that but I guess we need one,” he said.

Vera said some time ago the county used to have an animal control department. The commissioners voted to do away with it.

“So they decided that the money allocated for that would be divided back to the commissioners and that they would take care of their stray dog problems or animals,” he said.

During Monday’s commissioners’ court meeting, Vera said they introduced a leash law where owners would be held accountable for their loose animals.

“But we’re thinking about building our dog pound at the transfer situation in the near future and maybe getting a dog catcher,” he said.

Vera said they plan to address the potential project at their next meeting. He advises people living in the county, who have concerns with stray animals to voice their concerns to their commissioners.

Vera said the county commission will discuss the project during their next meeting. If approved, this process could take a month.

We’ll continue to follow up and see if Starr County will reinstate their animal control department.