El Paso Sheriff’s office tackles issue of stray dogs in San Elizario

This past Monday Licon Dairy was forced to close their petting zoo after two dogs attacked and killed ten of their animals and injured three others.

Both dogs, a German Shepard and Pit Bull mix, were not chipped and had no tags.

ABC-7 spoke with Angel Licon, Manager of the dairy, on Monday after the attack. He said that this is not the first time they have had issues with stray dogs in the area.

“It happened I think about within the last 10 years. We had dogs come in and they killed all the deer too,” Licon said.

The city of San Elizario has an Animal Ordinance that went into effect back in 2017.

According to the ordinance, pet owners are required to keep their pets on their property and properly leashed.

Pet owners can face a misdemeanor charge and be fined up to $500 if they do not properly care for their pets.

ABC-7 spoke with a few San Elizario residents who were sad to hear the news of what happened at the dairy, but they were not surprised. Residents say that the issue of stray dogs has been an ongoing problem not only in San Elizario, but in Socorro and Clint as well. The problem worries them even more knowing that children in nearby schools could be in danger because of stray dogs.

“Over here at the school’s. A lot of those kids they walk home. And you never know if there’s some dogs around there, and they can be hurt the kids so you know, do something. The owners, do something about it,” said Juanita Galindo, a San Elizario resident.

School employees in the area also said that they have had stray dogs walk onto the school property multiple times during school hours.

El Paso Sheriff’s officials responded to the attack Monday morning. According to Sheriff Ryan Urrutia, this is one of the worst attacks he has seen involving dogs.

Urrutia said that since the ordinance went into effect two years ago, they have neither seen an increase or or decrease in stray dogs, but they are doing all they can to prevent another attack like Monday’s from happening.

“We do have six full time animal welfare officers and we also are in the process of hiring part-time officers. So we can respond within all of the jurisdictions, except El Paso.”

The two dogs who attacked and killed the animals at Licon Dairy were shot by the dairy owners, and Sheriff’s officials said that the owners were within their rights to protect their property.

However, deputies urge the community to call the sheriff’s department first if they ever find themselves in a situation like this.

The Sheriff’s office is still asking the public for assistance in locating the owners of the two dogs involved.

Owners at Licon Dairy said that the petting zoo will be opening by Friday.

A GoFundMePage was set up by the dairy after many in the community asked how they could help.

All donations will go towards new enclosures and animals that were damaged in the attack.