ABILENE, TX — Seven dogs were taken by Abilene Animal Services after being left outside in the record cold on Tuesday.
Animal advocates posted videos of the dogs living in bad conditions on social media, including one puppy that couldn’t keep his head up.
He later died after being rushed to a veterinarian.
KTXS talked to the owner who claimed he was properly caring for the dogs.
Lyna Sierra — an animal advocate — claims she’s been feeding the dogs for months and that some appeared very unhealthy and were living outside, chained to trees.
She said there were 12 dogs on the property.
Interim Abilene Animal Services Director Mike Bricker said someone sent him videos of the dogs.
“When I saw the videos of the dogs in distress, that’s when I came right away,” said Bricker.
Bricker convinced the owner to surrender the dogs to Animal Services.
They were taken to the shelter to be treated and adopted out.
Bricker said he would have gotten a warrant to seize the dogs if the owner hadn’t surrendered them.
Animal Services allowed the owner to keep five dogs that live inside the house. They provided the owner with dog houses, dog food, and longer chains.
Bricker said the goal now is to educate the owner about properly caring for the dogs.
The owner wasn’t cited.
