A local animal shelter in La Grulla is taking extra precautions as New World screwworm cases move closer to the Rio Grande Valley.

The closest confirmed case to the Valley is in La Salle County, near Laredo. It was found in a calf.

Pawradise Dog Sanctuary owner Gloria Gonzalez said every animal that comes to her shelter in La Grulla arrives with some kind of skin injury.

"It’s very concerning because it’s not only for the ranchers... it’s also for our pets," Gonzalez said.

The screwworm is a parasite that eats living flesh. Open wounds make animals especially vulnerable to infection.

Gonzalez showed Channel 5 News how she seals open wounds by using a medicated, silver-colored spray that helps prevent infection and keeps flies away.

She is also stepping up cleaning efforts at her kennels and adding fly traps.

"We implemented another round, so now my family is doing four rounds per day to keep the kennels clean throughout the day," Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez recently treated a 1-year-old cat named Rubbles, found abandoned in Edinburg with a broken leg and bone exposed. She said white maggots were crawling on the open wound.

She took the cat across the border to Miguel Alemán to be treated in late May. Gonzalez said the state was not alerted about the maggots, and they were not tested for screwworm.

In nearby Rio Grande City, the animal control department is also on alert. Lt. Daniel Trevino said his team does encounter animals with maggots.

On Friday, the department got a report of a dog with a wound infested with maggots. The Texas Animal Health Commission picked up a sample, and the maggots tested negative for screwworm.

"We just want to be ahead of the game and make sure it doesn’t get here," Trevino said.

Animal control has posted on social media asking people to call the Texas Animal Health Commission to report suspected screwworm cases.

Gonzalez said everyone needs to work together to address the problem.

"So we all need to work together to make that chain strong enough and fix this problem that we have," Gonzalez said.

Watch the video above for the full story.