City officials respond, department looking for the pack of aggressive dogs

FOX26 News has an update to a story Rich Rodriquezreported on Wednesday night of a pack of aggressive dogs that a mother said was terrorizing a Central Fresno neighborhood.

We told you that she reached out to the Fresno Animal Center for help, but was told they could not help her.

But we did hear from city of Fresno officials and what they say they are now trying to do about this problem.

They told us it was the first time they have heard about this case but it’s now on their radar and they are hoping to catch the dogs.

They also point out that they never got a call from her.

That’s because they say she called the county line.

“I spoke to her earlier. She actually called Fresno Humane,” said Alma Torres, the Deputy City Manager of the Fresno Animal Center.

She explains, “…there’s a jurisdiction out there, so it’s really close to county. But Fresno Humane did forward us the information about 2 p.m. yesterday. So, we did receive that, and we did have our team go out there and do a reconnaissance around there.”

Torres says the team didn’t find any of the dogs.

Now, they are hoping the community can help them find them.

We advise the community if they do see them, to please call us. We do not advise them to try to catch them. We just want to make sure everyone is safe in this process. Let the professionals to do that.

She says if they catch them, they will try to figure out what to do next or if they have owners.

“If it is something that we deem to be a danger to the community, we will pick up the animals. But typically, what we’d like to do is we’d like to find the owners of these animals and work with them and educate them on what responsible pet ownership is so that they are not allowing these animals to roam at large,” she said.

If you find yourself in a similar scenario and you see those dogs, you are asked to contact Fresno Humane Services at (559) 600-7387 if you fall under county jurisdiction.

Now, if you live in the city, you are asked to call the Fresno Animal Center at (559) 621-7387.

Torres says the dog owners can be subject to a citation and if the animals are deemed aggressive, they will take them in.