County animal officials probe claims of aggressive dogs in Panther Creek

Officials say they've had several reports of dogs running loose in The Village of Panther Creek. Officials say they've had several reports of dogs running loose in The Village of Panther Creek. Photo: Courtesy Photo / Courtesy Photo Photo: Courtesy Photo / Courtesy Photo Image 1 of / 41 Caption Close County animal officials probe claims of aggressive dogs in Panther Creek 1 / 41 Back to Gallery

A series of complaints alleging dogs running loose and reportedly killing cats in neighborhoods across the Village of Panther Creek has led officials at the Montgomery County Animal Shelter to open an investigation into the situation and claims made by residents.

Aside from the calls and allegations between neighbors, the investigation has turned up very little, but has had an impact into the already stretched-thin department, according to shelter officials.

Aaron Johnson, director of MCAS, said the agency had responded to multiple calls on Maywind Court in The Woodlands over a period of several months where at least two people had alleged “dogs and cats were seen running at large.” The agency has not found any evidence to support the allegations, Johnson said.

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“We’ve gone out there many different times; we’ve gone out there in the evening, we’ve gone out there in the morning trying to catch these dogs loose,” Johnson said, noting that he has personally walked the trails in Panther Creek to try to catch the dogs. “Even if they are loose, the only thing we’re going to do is impound them and issue more citations. But even then, that doesn’t mean the owner can’t come and still claim their animals back. It’s their property. This is a property state and animals are property in Texas.”

Dan Lewis, vice president of the Panther Creek Village Association, said he wasn’t personally familiar with the incidents involving roaming dogs but he remembered a post on the website Nextdoor where a man in the neighborhood alleged that dogs had been seen running loose.

“No one has brought it to the Village Association meetings,” Lewis added.

At the May 2 The Woodlands Township Development Standards Committee meeting, Panther Creek resident Danelle Liddell expressed concerns over renters in the neighborhood and made unverified claimed that several of the reported renters “had dogs that were deemed high risk by home insurance companies, such as pit bulls, rottweilers and German shepherds.”

“We’ve had many problems with aggressive dogs running loose,” Liddell said during the meeting. “My dog and I were attacked and bitten by two rottweiler dogs owned by a renter four years ago.”

In the Nextdoor posting Lewis referenced, the poster claimed two large dogs have “come into Pineash Court neighborhood and attacked cats and other animals.” The poster also said he was almost bitten, according to the post.

Johnson said he spoke to the man who made the post on Nextdoor, but only after a woman called the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office when she saw the Nextdoor posting. The man claimed, Johnson said, that the dog “growled at me, but even by his own admission, said that if they were truly aggressive, they would have come up and bit me.”

Johnson and animal control officers could not verify whether any animals had been killed, nor did they find animal carcasses.

“We do not have any information regarding anyone that has been bitten,” Johnson said of the Maywind Court calls.

If a dog bites a person, MCAS can impound the dog per state law, but the owner may still be able to claim their animals, Johnson said.

“And it really depends on the bite and the circumstances, or how bad it was, and whether the dogs meets the definition of a ‘dangerous dog,’” Johnson added. In extreme cases, a judge may issue a court order to have the dog euthanized, he added.

A “dangerous dog” is defined by Texas state law as a dog that “makes an unprovoked attack on a person that causes bodily injury and occurs in a place other than an enclosure in which the dog was being kept and that was reasonably certain to prevent the dog from leaving the enclosure on its own.”

Montgomery County Animal Shelter does not have arresting authority, Johnson said.

Deputies with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Officer were dispatched on some occasions, but Lt. Scott Spencer said he was not aware of any arrests made during the calls.

Calls to the Montgomery County Animal Shelter from residents began nearly one year ago, Johnson said. There was only one occasion on Maywind Court when animal control officers actually saw a dog running loose, he added.

MCAS officials impounded the dog and issued citations, Johnson said. The dog was then returned home after animal control officers spoke to the owner who claimed it was “an honest mistake.”

There were four calls related to animals in 2017, but the agency has responded to the area more than a dozen times in the last 12 months, Johnson said. In 2018, MCAS went to Leverwood and Maywind courts to investigate multiple calls related to animals roaming loose, but the officers, who spent hours — sometimes overtime hours — at times in the area, were not able to locate any, Johnson added.

Johnson said he believes the issue boils down to a dispute between “neighbors who don’t like each other.”

“I don’t know if that’s absolutely correct, but that’s the feeling that I get between what we’re seeing and the interactions we’ve had between both parties,” Johnson said.

MCAS, which has nine animal control officers, received more than 13,000 calls in a jurisdiction of more than 1,000-square miles.

“With all this being said, we do take our calls seriously,” Johnson said. “We attempt to gather as much information and details as possible. We have witnesses and victims complete statements of incidents. We do work all of our calls.”

Michelle Iracheta