Kerrville Pets Alive! brought together different stakeholders involved with animal cruelty protocol to discuss ways to better streamline processes to provide justice and care for the animals involved.
“The purpose of the meeting was to identify the roles of the entities involved and establish efficient and effective communication. Representa- tives from the City of Kerrville, Kerrville Police Department, Kerr County Sheriff’s Office, Kerr County Animal Services, Kerr County Attorney’s Office, 216th District Attorney’s Office and KPA! were present.” said Kerrville Pets Alive! President Karen Guerriero.
When an animal cruelty case is brought up to local law enforcement, sometimes officials work with Kerrville Pets Alive! to provide shelter, care, and often medical attention to the animals involved.
“Kerrville Pets Alive! works daily with Kerr County Animal Services to identify animals in need. On occasion, KPA! is asked to foster and provide medical care for animals involved in alleged cruelty cases. These cases can linger for months and sometimes years.” said Guerriero.
Most of the calls Kerrville Pets Alive! gets are for concerns for weather-related neglect, pets left in either too hot or too cold conditions, or abandonment. On occasion there are severe cases of cruelty where an animal is removed and placed into Kerrville Pets Alive! for treatment.
While a case is going through the legal processes through animal control or the court system, the situation can become difficult to navigate with many different parties involved. This meeting was the beginning of a series aimed to identify the responsibilities of each entity and make communication clear and direct to solve any confusion.
“We discussed specific examples of cruelty cases and related state law, county court orders, and city ordinances. We also discussed the many challenges involved in investigating and prosecuting these types of cases.” said Guerriero.
Though in the early stages, Kerrville Pets Alive! strives to create a committee tasked with overseeing animal cruelty cases, with this meeting being the first of many to discuss future plans. In a follow-up, Kerrville Pets Alive! plans to host a meeting with a guest speaker from the Texas Humane Legislation Network for further insight.
Animal cruelty in Kerr County should be reported to Kerr County Animal Services or the Kerr County Sheriff’s Office if in the county or Kerrville Police Department after KCAS hours.
For more information about Kerrville Pets Alive! and their many resources, visit their website at: https://kerrvillepetsalive.com