Tag: Houston

How to Help Animal Shelters and Rescues Affected by Hurricane Harvey

 

For updated information about how to help animal shelters in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico after the recent catastrophic hurricanes, click here.

Hurricane Harvey has been wreaking havoc on the Houston area for days. This morning, for the first time in its history, a dam overflowed, which will cause even more devastating flooding.

Animal shelters and rescues throughout Texas and neighboring states are taking in as many displaced dogs and other pets as they can. They need donations of cash and supplies — and, especially, volunteers to provide foster homes for all those homeless pets. Here’s what you can do to help some of these shelters and rescues.

If you know of other shelters or rescues that need help due to Harvey, please leave a comment and I’ll add them to the list.

SPCA of Texas

The SPCA of Texas, located in Dallas, is “putting every available resource behind assisting pets and people who have evacuated the Gulf Coast to the North Texas area,” according to its website. “We are deploying staff, volunteers and supplies to support evacuees housed at the mega shelter opening in Dallas, working with city and county disaster officials to care for the pets of evacuees.”

You can help by:

Tall Tails Animal Rescue

When a dam was opened without warning Aug. 28 near Hankamer, Texas, where Tall Tails Animal Rescue is located, the nonprofit’s kennels were flooded with over a foot of rising water, putting the lives of over 100 dogs in danger.

After Tall Tails founders Kat K Tschirgi and Kevin Miller put out cries for help on social media, volunteers in boats arrived to save some of the dogs. This video of the rescue effort, posted by Miller on Facebook, has been viewed more than 166,000 times.

The nonprofit Dallas DogRRR is collecting cash and supply donations on behalf of Tall Tails Animal Rescue.

You can help by:

Austin Pets Alive!

The Austin Pets Alive! (APA!) shelter, which itself was flooded during a 2015 storm, has been taking in hundreds of homeless pets from Houston.

“As we continue to care for the animals we have already saved, we have to prepare for even more animals who will need us in the coming days,” APA!, a nonprofit organization dedicated to keeping Austin no kill, notes on its website.

“We’ve been receiving reports from shelter partners in areas hit hardest by the hurricane and areas expecting the most flooding that … they are anticipating another significant influx of animals that they may not be able to help. We have also heard reports of extensive lines of people surrendering their pets, so Austin Pets Alive! needs to be ready to help and brace ourselves for additional animal intake.”

You can help by:

  • Donating needed items: Check the APA! website for its updated top current needs. Thanks to donations, it currently has enough crates, canned and dry dog food, and Clorox Wipes.
  • Making a cash donation.
  • Permanently adopting a large dog, as long as you have no other dogs. Short-term fosters are not currently needed.

Houston SPCA

Located at ground zero, the Houston SPCA needs cash donations, which fortunately have been pouring in from near and far — including over $160 from some awesome Hamburg, N.Y., school kids who raised the money by selling lemonade.

“The animals are cared for and safe,” Houston SPCA wrote on its Facebook page Aug. 28. “We have been overwhelmed with gratitude by the outpouring of support from the community.”

Photo via Kevin Miller/Facebook

GRRR: PetSmart Employee Allegedly Threw Caustic Disinfectant on Dogs

Ezekiel Reynard Pitts, who worked at a PetSmart store in Houston, was apparently having a bad day in February.

To make it worse, he told police, a dog in the store nipped at him. Pitts said that when he threw cleaning disinfectant at the dog, named Tulip, she jumped up, causing him to spill the caustic chemicals on another dog, Nala.

But the surveillance video from a security camera tells a different story, KPRC reports. Pitts can be seen measuring out the disinfectant, which he knew to be caustic because he’d been burned with it himself. He then threw it on both the dogs.

Tulip died from her injuries.

“We are heartbroken by the loss of Tulip and injuries sustained by Nala. Nothing is more important than the health and safety of pets, and we take full responsibility for the pets in our care,” PetSmart said in a statement, according to KPRC.

After conducting an internal investigation, PetSmart fired Pitts and contacted local police, who are investigating the incident.

Pitts was charged with felony cruelty to animals. A warrant has been issued for his arrest.

“Any incident of animal cruelty goes against everything we believe as a company and as individual pet parents,” PetSmart stated. “No words can express our deep sorrow for the family.”

UPDATE: According to a June 2019 message from Angelina Pitts, “I would like you all to know Ezekiel’s trial is over and he has been found ‘NOT GUILTY.'” 

Photo credit: Anthony92931

Shooter of Dog who ‘Played Too Rough’ at Houston Park Charged with Animal Cruelty

On a Sunday afternoon in late January, Joseph Potts thought Diesel, a 2-year-old Staffordshire Bull Terrier, was playing too roughly with his own dog at the Bay Area Dog Park in Houston.

So Potts kicked Diesel, knocking him down. He pulled out a Glock 9mm pistol and shot Diesel three times at close range in the back and leg.

Diesel was rushed to a local emergency animal hospital, where he had to be euthanized a few hours later due to the extent of his injuries.

“I just can’t believe somebody would do that when the dog wasn’t even being aggressive,” Melanie Merritt, who saw the shooting, told KHOU at the time.

Another eyewitness told KPRC-TV the dogs appeared to have been playfully tussling at the Bay Area Dog Park. “His dog was not in danger,” he said. “I witnessed everything. No one was in danger.”

When questioned by Harris County sheriff’s deputies, Potts — who is licensed to carry a concealed handgun — told them he did it in self defense when the “Pit Bull” tried to attack his dog. He was allowed to go free while the Harris County District Attorney’s Office reviewed the case.

As outrage grew over the incident, a Support for Diesel page was created on Facebook, and dozens of pet parents attended a protest walk at the Bay Area Dog Park.

“This case has gotten more notoriety than many of our homicides,” Harris County Sheriff’s Deputy Tom Gilliland told the Houston Chronicle.

Nearly two months later, justice has finally been served. Potts was arrested Monday and charged with one count of felony cruelty to a non-livestock animal. If found guilty, he faces two to 10 years in prison — and will likely lose that license to carry a gun.

“Animal abuse is a serious offense that will not be tolerated,” Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson said in a press release. “We take all allegations of cruelty to animals very seriously and pursue charges whenever appropriate.”

Randall Livingston, Diesel’s dog dad, told KPRC-TV, “We were pretty excited to hear that news. That was obviously the outcome we were looking for.”

Livingston had Diesel since he was a puppy. “He was an absolutely amazing, beautiful dog,” he told the Houston Press in January. “When anybody came in contact with him — when you were walking down the street, and they were driving — they would roll down the windows and just comment on him: how beautiful he is, how sweet he is. Man, it’s a bad deal. It really is.”

Livingston’s mother took Diesel to the Bay Area Dog Park on Jan. 25. She told police that when she saw Potts kicking Diesel, she yelled at him to grab his collar. Instead, Potts pulled out his Glock.

After Potts was arrested yesterday, he was released on a $5,000 bond.

“Hopefully he would have some form of better judgment or just stay the hell out of the dog park,” Livingston told KPRC-TV.

Photos via Facebook

No Charges yet for Shooter of Dog Playing ‘Too Rough’ at Houston Dog Park

MARCH 10, 2015 UPDATE: Diesel’s shooter, Joseph Potts, has been arrested and charged with one count of felony cruelty to a non-livestock animal.

A man at the Bay Area Dog Park in Houston yesterday morning thought a 2-year-old, black-and-white Staffordshire Bull Terrier named Diesel was playing too roughly with his own dog.

So the man kicked Diesel, knocking him down, then pulled out a handgun and shot him three times at close range in the back and leg. Diesel was rushed to a local emergency animal hospital, where he had to be euthanized a few hours later due to the extent of his injuries.

“I just can’t believe somebody would do that when the dog wasn’t even being aggressive,” Melanie Merritt, who saw the shooting, told KHOU.

Another eyewitness told KPRC-TV the dogs appeared to have been playfully tussling at the Bay Area Dog Park. “His dog was not in danger,” he said. “I witnessed everything. No one was in danger.”

No charges have yet been filed against the man, who has not been identified.

While it’s legal to carry rifles and shotguns in Texas, handguns require a permit. Using one to kill a pet dog, in an area filled with families on a weekend morning, seems not only cruel but downright dangerous.

After being questioned by Harris County sheriff’s deputies, the shooter — who, according to KHOU, told them he did it in self defense when the “Pit Bull” tried to attack his dog — was released. The Sheriff’s Office issued a statement this morning that it will bring its completed investigation of the case to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office for further review.

“He doesn’t have any remorse,” the eyewitness told KPRC-TV. “He’s angry. All of that aggression. We’re all telling him, ‘I hope you go to jail.’ I don’t understand how they are not pressing charges.”

Last night KPRC-TV reporter Bill Spencer said he spoke via phone to Diesel’s pet parents, who plan to press criminal charges against the shooter today.

“They’re absolutely heartsick and they are sick to their stomachs,” Spencer said. “And they are confused as well — shocked that the man who shot their dog is not behind bars tonight.”

Photo via Twitter

 

 

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