Monica Chavez Brownsville- The Brownsville Animal Regulation and Care Center has rescued around five-thousand animals off the streets this past year, but one dog has made the Brownsville campus home.
A UTRGV groundskeeper and pest control expert formed an unlikely friendship with a stray female dog called “chaparro.”
Ground keeper and pest control expert Henry Pineda tells us Chaparro was one of the four stray dogs on campus over the last four years.
Pineda said he gives her food, water, treats and has also tried taking her home but she would not stay.
“She stays here at work mostly, sometimes she will follow me all the way to my house, which is not too far away from here, less than a mile” Pineda said.
Henry also said people have reported “chaparro” to the pound on several occasions but were unsuccessful in catching her.
“They’ve tried to catch her because sometimes she is a little aggressive with certain people not everyone, just with certain people, she’ll bark at them. They had no luck in trying to catch her, she is not trustworthy of just anybody. They’ve tried using a cage to catch her, but she was too smart to go in it and get caught” Pineda said.
Director of Animal Services at Brownsville Animal Regulation and Care Center Antonio Caldwell said the non-alive outcome at the center improved drastically within the past three to four months.
He shares 78-percent of the animals that went into their facility left alive and well.
“But there is a very sad reality that we face that some animals don’t make it out of our shelter alive. So, we’ll euthanize because of injuries, sickness, illnesses and then we euthanize unfortunately for space” Caldwell said.
According to Caldwell, stray dogs have three days to be reunited with their owners, after that they will be put up for adoption where the risk of getting euthanized depends on their condition.
As of Aug. 31 The Animal Regulation and Care Center Shelter announced on its Facebook page that it is over capacity and looking for adoption or foster homes. Caldwell encourages owners to spay and neuter their pets.
For more information about adoption services and volunteering opportunities at B.A.R.C.C you can visit brownsvilletx.Gov
In the meantime, Pineda said he plans on taking care of Chaparro until she finds a home.
