If you see a stray dog, you typically call Animal Services, but that isn’t the case for people who live outside of city limits. Since there are no leash ordinances banning unrestrained dogs, it’s out of the county’s hands.
“If it dies in my yard, then I’m responsible for it. I don’t know. He’s just suffering,” said Daniel Chavira.
He found a sick pitbull in his yard and doesn’t know what to do. Chavira says he lives a couple blocks outside of the city and said he sees strays all the time.
“They leave dogs not only in that neighborhood, but other neighborhoods further out in the county. Just outside the county,” said Chavira.
When he tried to get some help for the dog, he found out Animal Services nor the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office could do much.
“To take him to the dog pound it would cost me at least $10-$20. But then I have to put him in my car, but I don’t have a vehicle to take him,” said Chavira.
If you find a stray dog that’s not in the Lubbock Animal Services’s jurisdiction, you many be out of luck to get the dog off your street since there aren’t any leash laws against dogs walking around without any restraints.
“In the county, they don’t really have leash laws like we do in the city so it kind of ties the Sheriff’s office’s hands as far as picking up strays and just dogs at large,” said Steven Green with the Lubbock Animal Services.
LAS said they get a handful of calls from people who find strays outside of the city, but there’s only so much you can do.
“We give them a list of rescues. We try to help them with fosters that we know of that might take those type of animals. We try to give them an idea as far as how to re-home animals through social media,” said Green.
If you find a stray dog outside of city limits, you can take it to the Lubbock Animal Services for $10-$20. They also suggest to post the dog all over social media to see if it belongs to anyone.
The number for Lubbock Animal Services is (806) 775-2700. You can also go to their website here.
