Graphic photos renew dog debate in Houston

HOUSTON -- Just over a month after the closest election in the town's history, the Houston city council grappled with the issue of animal control during part of a four-hour meeting on Thursday.

Houston resident Evelyn Rohr asked the council to address the problem of animal control within city limits. Houston has an animal-control code, but it's not enforced because the people of Houston declined to fund enforcement in the past.

Rohr told the council that her pet Scottish terrier, Tabitha, was killed by four husky-mix dogs that were roaming her neighborhood.

Rohr passed out pictures of Tabitha.

Some of the pictures showed Tabitha snuggling on a sofa with Rohr's grandson, Charles, and posed like a show dog at Rohr's front door. Other photos showed Tabitha's body lying on a table with multiple wounds on her neck and body. Tabitha was partially eviscerated.

"[The loose dogs] absolutely tore her to bits and there was nothing the vet could do," Rohr said. Rohr said she had her vet take the photos because she could not bear to look at Tabitha's body in such a state herself.

"[The pictures are] very graphic, and I apologize for that -- but just imagine for a minute if that were a preschool-aged child," Rohr said.

The council and audience then discussed Houston's animal-control predicament. The town is in a catch-22 that leaves Houston's 10 square miles without animal control enforcement.

On paper, Houston has animal-control authority -- that authority is written into city code and could be enforced by city employees or by the Mat-Su Borough under a contract. But both of those solutions require funding, which voters have turned down in the past.

Some people said that when Houston residents call the borough for help with loose dogs, they are told that borough employees have no jurisdiction, but that dogs can be legally shot in defense of life or property. Others suggested Houston voters would never approve of the tax, and that mushers would lobby against it.

When Rohr told the council members they could keep the pictures of Tabitha's body, council member Carol Johnston suggested using the photos to turn the anti-tax tide. "We could include them in the voter packet," Johnston said.

Mayor Dale Adams and Rohr agreed to meet today to work on forming a committee to address animal-control issues. "I will check with the borough and see what kind of a mill rate they would charge," he said, "and then we'll try to put it up for a vote again."