CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — KRIS 6 News has previously reported on the stray dog problem happening in Refugio and how animal control officers work to resolve it. Now, a program is giving pet owners an opportunity to keep their pets healthy.
Friday afternoon, Maria York and Crystal Smith waited patiently to see their fur babies.
“Rainbow is a Jack Russel Chihuahua mix. She is the life of the party,” pet owner Crystal Smith said.
“Missy is a mix with a hound we think,” Maria York said.
The ladies woke-up early to make an appointment for their first meeting with Refugio Animal Control officer Andy Snyder.
“What we did is organize a transport this morning where we scheduled 23 animals to be transported down to Corpus Christi to get spayed and neuter. Of those 23 we had 17 show up,” Snyder said.
Snyder told KRIS 6 news reporter Victoria Balderamma that he’s working with a program known as People Assisting Animal Control, or P.A.A.C.
The P.A.A.C.program spays and neuters animals for free. Pet owners can also use P.A.A.C to get rabies vaccinations for their pets and most other things a pet owner might need.
Snyder said people are using this service.
"To the best of my knowledge Woodsboro, every street is now on the list. I don't think there's a single street that's not on it and I just added 5 more in Refugio,” Snyder said.
For pet owners, like York she said it makes life easier.
“I have no transportation because my husband works, and he can’t get time off. Setting up something like this makes it easier to get my pets spayed and neutered,” York said.
Officer Snyder takes the animals to P.A.A.C which Smith and her Chihuahua mix are grateful for.
“It helps with us because those pets spay and neuter bills are high,” Smith said. So, we tried to go with our income, and this came about.”
P.A.A.C offers its services to people living in five countie,s including all of San Patricio County.
If you're a pet owner who wants to participate in this program. There is a sign-up list posted. Click here.
