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Woman Cited For
Backyard Animal Shelter
printed in the Galveston Daily News
04/12/06
Leslie Contreras
Santa Fe
– A woman who said she was operating an informal animal rescue program in
her back yard was cited Tuesday afternoon for having 21 dogs without county
registrations and warned that she would be required to limit her household to
four animals, as mandated in county regulations.
Tuesday afternoon, officers with the Galveston County Animal Services responded
to a call about dogs kept at the woman’s residence in the 5000 block of Moore
Street. Officers found 16 dogs, mostly Labradors and poodles, roaming around a
wire-fenced back yard scattered with debris and miscellaneous equipment and at
least five dogs inside the house.
“I thought I was doing animal rescue,” said Sabrina Fesler, the owner. “I
thought I was doing everything right. I won’t do it anymore.”
Fesler said that she had been rescuing dogs from all across the county for the
past year after she found it difficult to adopt dogs through conventional
shelters. Fesler said that she also has adopted out several dogs to people who
wanted them, charging no adoption fee.
But officers Delana Weller and Jessica Justice said the woman’s property was
unsuitable for the number of dogs she had, and that she had not gone through the
proper procedures to qualify as a bonafide rescue program. Weller said the
conditions the dogs were living in were not satisfactory, noting that the dogs
were free to reproduce and that some seemed ill.
In addition to the citations for not registering the dogs
with the county, the officers also cited Fesler for 20 dogs not having rabies
vaccinations. Weller said the fees associated with the citations vary and depend
upon what a judge orders.
Kurt Koopmann, spokesman for the Galveston County Health District, could not
confirm the details of the citations Tuesday evening as it was an ongoing
investigation and said that a final report had not been issued yet.
Weller said she would return to Fesler’s home today to work out a solution,
possibly by taking most of the dogs to the county animal shelter.
For More Information Contact:
Kurt Koopmann
Public Information Officer
Galveston County Health District
409-938-2211 or 409-392-0007
kkoopman@gchd.org |
