East Texas animal rescue advocates look for solutions to fight pet abandonment

RUSK COUNTY, Texas (KETK) – East Texas residents are looking to local leaders to find solutions to pet abandonment.

“I’m afraid to leave my house because every time I leave my house, there’s a dumped dog,” Nancy Wylie, an animal rescue advocate, said.

Wylie and Vanessa Cogswell, both animal rescue advocates in Rusk County, led the weekly meeting at the county courthouse on Monday to discuss pet abandonment and the toll it has taken on the community.

“Everybody in the rescue community knows what’s going on,” Cogswell said.

Wylie and Cogswell were joined by several advocates who also hope to find solutions with the help of law enforcement and other agencies.

Cogswell said county officials are aware of the problem.

“The one sheriff told all of us that they get more calls about dogs than anything else,” Cogswell said.

However, there is only so much that can be done.

“They are short staffed,” Cogswell said. “They need to be able to fill some other positions before they can fill animal control positions.”

Wylie said it has been a problem in the area for as long as she can remember, but somehow got worse during the pandemic.

“People that I work with, they see hundreds and hundreds of dogs every year,” Wylie said.

While there is no immediate fix, Wylie and Cogswell want the spay and neuter programs to be more affordable.

“I think if we can drive the cost lower, then ultimately we’ll see a higher amount of people go and get their animals fixed,” Wylie said.

Both advocates acknowledge change will not be easy, but it is something that needs to be done.

“We have some challenges ahead, but talking with Smith County people, there’s been huge headways and we’re kind of using them as a sounding board,” Wylie said.

Wylie and Cogswell said they were pleased with how the meeting turned out on Monday and the progress made. They said this will open up an avenue of communication between both parties to work together to find a solution in the future to make a real change.