Edcouch city manager: Stray dogs taken to remote areas of the county

EDCOUCH - The city manager here said municipal workers have captured stray dogs and transported them to remote areas of Hidalgo County for at least the past two years.

But City Manager Ernesto Ayala Jr. denied allegations that animals had been cruelly mistreated, kept on municipal property or starved to death.

Ayala said workers were instructed to transport the live dogs because the city does not have money for animal control.

“We release them — escort them out of town, if you will,” Ayala said. “There’s nothing criminal about what we do.”

Allegations of improper animal control and cruelty by Edcouch municipal workers first surfaced last week after Mayor Jose Calin Guzman and former city worker Abel Escovedo showed The Monitor locations where they said employees had dumped stray dogs, including a dog’s corpse located east of the city’s maintenance shop.

Guzman said in light of the animal cruelty allegations, Ayala should resign.

“I’m just trying to do something for the city,” the mayor said.

Police Chief Joe Perez confirmed that workers had been ordered to trap stray dogs and release them outside the city. But because no one has filed a formal police report alleging animal cruelty, Perez said investigators are limited in how much they could explore the matter.

“Once [someone comes] in and files a complaint with my office … I think I’d be in a better position to talk about what’s being alleged,” he said.

Edcouch will likely stop trapping stray dogs to avoid further controversy, as recommended by the district attorney’s office, Ayala said.

“Let them wander,” he said.

But District Attorney Rene Guerra said Edcouch officials have not contacted his office regarding animal control legal advice.

Rather than letting stray dogs roam free to avoid animal control costs, Guerra recommended something different.

“If you cannot afford to exist as a city, you unincorporate,” he said.

Stephanie Bell, senior animal cruelty case worker for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said the organization has received numerous complaints on the matter since Saturday.

Laural Powell, executive director of the Palm Valley Animal Center in Edinburg, said dropping unwanted pets outside the city “just relocates the problem” to county authorities.

“Part of the animal cruelty law is still unreasonably abandoning animals and that’s what they’re doing,” she said.

Eduardo Olivarez, chief administrative officer for the Hidalgo County Health Department in Edinburg, said the county would attempt to help the city.

“We’re open to helping them, but we can’t take on the full responsibility,” he said.

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Jared Taylor covers Edinburg and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4439.