Edcouch police may not charge anyone in dog dumping case

EDCOUCH — Edcouch police are investigating alleged animal cruelty by city workers, but whether charges will be filed remains to be seen.

Police Chief Joe Perez said his department’s only detective has been investigating the allegations, filed last week in a complaint by former city worker Abel Escovedo. Escovedo has said Edcouch municipal workers were ordered by City Administrator Ernesto Ayala Jr. to starve and improperly dispose of dogs in area ditches.

The police investigation likely will wrap up by Wednesday, Perez said.

“We are still in the process of interviewing employees to find out what’s factual and what is not,” he said.

But employees accused of starving and dumping dogs — dead and alive — wouldn’t necessarily be in violation of state animal cruelty laws if they didn’t intended to cause harm to the animals, Perez said.

“This particular statute says a person commits an offense only if he intentionally and knowingly does it,” the chief said.

An employee who followed unlawful city orders would not be guilty, he said.

Hidalgo County District Attorney Rene Guerra said individuals could be charged with animal cruelty, but he was unaware of any provision of the law that would allow a city to be sanctioned.

“There’s nothing that governs municipalities in the disposal of stray animals, as far as I know,” he also said. “I’m not researching this area of law. It’s not in my jurisdiction. I’ve got other things to worry about.”

The district attorney did say, though, that Ayala’s order to trap dogs and relocate them to rural Hidalgo County was a poor policy from the start.

Stephanie Bell, an animal cruelty case worker for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said her organization would send a letter to Guerra on Monday requesting that he investigate the matter. PETA has issued an “action alert” on its Web site that allows users to contact area authorities about the matter.

“We believe that these actions constitute explicit violations of law and we would like to see local authorities investigate this matter thoroughly and pursue a vigorous criminal prosecution against any individuals who may have been involved in these activities,” Bell said.

The Edcouch allegations aren’t the only accusations of animal abuse by South Texas municipal workers to surface in recent years.

In August 2005, a public works supervisor in Jourdanton was reprimanded by the city for ordering workers to drown five dogs, but no criminal charges were filed, according to Monitor archives and the San Antonio Express-News. The supervisor later resigned.

Elected city officials remain divided about the matter in Edcouch.

Precinct 1 Alderwoman Maria de la Cruz said city administrator Ayala deserves to be punished after admitting Tuesday during a City Council meeting that he ordered workers to trap and relocate stray dogs outside the city.

“I want to get the Texas Rangers involved to see what they will do,” she said. “If we don’t help our citizens, it will get much worse.”

But Precinct 3 Alderman Rojelio Garcia defended Ayala, saying the city administrator has worked to help fix Edcouch’s budget problems. Garcia said he did not know if the alleged dog abuse by city employees “was true or not.”

“I think (Ayala is) doing a fantastic job,” he said. “We need him and I have no problem with him at all.”

Eduardo Olivarez, chief administrative officer for the Hidalgo County Health Department, said his office offered to help the city develop an animal control plan last week but had not heard back from city officials.

Animal control has been a concern in Edcouch ever since Perez became police chief more than a year ago and asked for the City Council to enact a policy.

But Perez said he had not followed up with city leaders about the situation and did not know of Ayala’s decision to transport dogs to remote areas of the county until area media began reporting about it earlier this month.

“I know the problem is not going to go away by picking up animals and putting them in somebody else’s backyard — it doesn’t even sound right,” Perez said. “But sounding right and being criminal are two different things, from looking at the statute. But we still have to sort things out.”

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