DEL VALLE, Texas — On the border of Bastrop and Travis counties, a woman claims her neighborhood is dealing with a massive increase in stray dogs.
Neighbors think people who no longer want the dogs are abandoning them. They're dogs like Sunny, a blonde husky with bright blue eyes. Elizabeth Cunningham said she has no idea where Sunny came from.
"A month and a half ago, our friend's wife called and she was like, ‘I found this dog in our neighborhood,'" Cunningham said.
Sunny was found skinny, with a gash in his head, but otherwise fine. He didn't have a microchip.
“She put him on Facebook. No one said anything. No one wanted him," Cunningham said. "I could tell that this is obviously somebody's dog from their home that they ditched."
Cunningham, who lives on a farm bordering both counties, said there are a lot of dogs like Sunny near Del Valle that appear abandoned. Every week, Cunningham said she sees 10 new stray dogs.
“I’d say the past year or two, it's like, blown up,” Cunningham said. “A lot of them are microchipped. There's no way these dogs walked from ... Round Rock to here, so they're being dumped. It's obvious.”
Cunningham said she hears the stray dogs barking in the woods every night. However, the noise isn't the only problem.
“It’s almost past calving season. One of my neighbors lost 15 calves. The dogs will attack the baby calves, like newborns, and just tear them apart and leave them there,” Cunningham said. “That's how cattle ranchers make their money. That’s a lot of potential money.”
Cunningham said the animals are also not spayed or neutered, so there are puppies. The dogs are also often hit and hurt by cars, leaving her feeling stuck.
She said after talking to the sheriff’s office, the only choice is to shoot the dogs killing cattle on their property.
“I don’t want to do that, and I haven’t ... I don’t know what else to do," Cunningham said. "It’s just nearly impossible to monitor this much area 24 hours a day. The shelters are full. They won't take them."
Program manager Rebekha Montie with the Austin Animal Center said most municipal animal shelters haven’t taken animals in for a while. They’ve restricted their intake since 2022.
“Most shelters in our area, especially within Texas, are full right now,” Montie said. “We've had less adoptions happening, more animals coming in, and then staying longer within our system.”
Montie said people dump dogs, often in rural areas, regardless of how full shelters are. She said calling 311 is the best thing to do, but that shelters are the last resort for a stray to ensure there's enough space for emergency-type situations.
“We can see on our end if there's a trend ... so we can kind of get to the root of the issue," Montie said. “We take in animals where their owner has been either hospitalized, incarcerated ... sick, injured animals, public safety risk ... and we need to have those spaces available for those types of situations."
Montie said the Austin Animal Center is 17 pets over what its intake limit is supposed to be, so she suggests the community helps.
"Look into social media to see if anybody's missing those animals ... seeing if anybody is willing to even take in those animals and potentially foster them," Montie said.
Meanwhile, Cunningham said she can't keep Sunny, so he needs a new home. She said he is friendly, calm and good with kids and people, but does not get along with other large, male dogs. If you're interested in Sunny, you can email KVUE's Jessica Cha.