Rio Grande City Animal Control is now becoming its own city department

Eighteen dogs fill Rio Grande City's Animal Control facility, each one picked up off the street.

Norma Lopez says seeing stray dogs has become routine.

"I can't even leave my house without even seeing five or six dogs in the city," Lopez said.

Lopez says she feels for each animal she sees wandering alone. She knows they can't survive on their own.

"We don't have an animal problem, we have a people problem. They don't understand that if you don't spay and neuter your dogs, these animals are suffering," Lopez said.

Rio Grande City Animal Control says stray animals aren't the only problem; animal abuse is also on the rise.

"So there is a drastic increase in our service calls," Rio Grande City Animal Control Department Director Eli Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez says the increase in calls started a month ago.

"We were averaging anywhere from 20 to 25 calls per week. Now, we are averaging from between 80 and 90 calls," Gonzalez said.

The department officially separated from the police department in October.

Gonzalez says the change allows them to bring in certified peace officers dedicated to investigating animal cruelty cases.

"This is the first time that an actual peace officer goes out to a service call and see some type of abuse or some type of neglect, and the officer can take initial steps right there and then, not pass the case to somebody else," Gonzalez said.

The department says it needs more peace officers to keep up. They have two now and hope to hire two more.

Rio Grande City also has plans to expand their current animal facility that only has 10 kennels right now.

"We are extending kennels by 20 more. We are going to have a total of 30 kennels," Gonzalez said.

The renovation will cost the city $20,000. Construction is set to begin in early December.

Once it's completed, Gonzalez says the plan is to help the community tackle the stray animal population with spay and neuter clinics.

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