Animal cruelty appears in many different ways, but no matter how you look at it, it’s against the law in the state of Texas.
In Texas, abandoning a dog is considered a serious animal cruelty offense that carries strict punishments. Abandoning a dog is a Class A misdemeanor in Texas and if convicted, a person can face up to a year in jail and up to $4,000 in fines.
“Animal abandonment violates animal welfare laws in the state of Texas and a City of Corpus Christi ordinance. It poses a serious risk to the animal’s well-being,” officials with CCACS said.
A Padre Island resident, Bobby Stevens, says he recently found three abandoned puppies near Padre Bali Park. Stevens said he and his son went for a walk on the beach with their three dogs and saw the puppies running from the distant dunes.
“The puppies are not feral and they came right to us. To me, this means they could not defend themselves from coyotes and they were raised by humans. That’s why they came running up to me. In addition, they were very thirsty. If they drank salt water, they could have died a painful death, or let alone painful deaths from the coyotes,” Bobby Stevens said.