HOUSTON – Council Member Dwight Boykins announced Monday a new initiative regarding stray dogs in the District D community. This initiative will focus on and target stray dogs and the impact these dogs have on the public safety of mail carriers and neighborhood residents.
Recently, a 22-year-old postal worker was forced to retire due to serious injury caused by a stray dog while performing her carrier duties.
Boykins said this is a serious issue that demands serious action with long-term effects. In order to address this ongoing concern, Boykins has allocated $50,000 of his District Service Council Budget to start an aggressive overtime program for BARC Animal Control.
"BARC can only, with the resources they have, stretch so far," Councilman Boykins said.
The overtime program will allow animal control officers to focus their efforts in specific District D neighborhoods that are experiencing high numbers of stray dogs.
"The goal of the program is to keep our community safe and eliminate the presence of stray dogs in District D neighborhoods," said Boykins.
Derrell Durden is a resident of District D. He said he's experienced mail not being delivered because a dog threatened his letter carrier.
"It's been an ongoing problem and got to the four or five days you don't have your mail. So, you were wondering why. So I was sitting up waiting for the letter carrier," Durden said.