- Houston Ship Channel Partially Reopened After Oil Spill [Houston Business Journal]
- Houston Buyers Snapped Up Homes 42% Faster in February Than Same Time Last Year, Finds ZipRealty [Prime Property]
- Signed Contracts, Closings on Newly Built Homes Go Up 7.6%, 11.8% Respectively from January to February [Houston Chronicle ($)]
- HAR.com To Open Its Website To Include Listings from Across Texas Starting Next Month [Houston Business Journal]
- Punk’s Simple Southern Food Opens in Hanover Development in Rice Village [Culturemap; previously on Swamplot]
- ‘Cupcake Wars’ Winner Eyeing Sugar Land as Part of Nationwide Expansion [Community Impact Newspaper]
- Brighton Collectibles, Bradley Ogden’s Pour Society Coming to Memorial City Mall [Houston Business Journal]
- City Hiring Firm To Create a Bicycle Management Plan To Guide Infrastructure, Bike Lane Development [Houston Chronicle]
- Heights Residents Blocking Drainage Ditches with Rocks and Bricks, Parking Pads [abc13]
- City Council To Vote Today on Whether Dogs Can Be Deemed ‘Aggressive’ or a ‘Nuisance’ [Houston Chronicle ($)]
- New Braunfels City Council Votes To Appeal Overturn of ‘Can Ban’ [AP; previously on Swamplot]
Photo of yesterday’s Axis Apartments fire from Downtown: Swamplot inbox
Headlines
Yes, people should be fined and in some cases taken to jail for their callous treatment of animals. Yes, pitbulls can be great dogs, but not when they are raised by thugs. It sucks to see how people treat dogs in the 5th ward. They breed them early then throw them out on the street to survive. Great pic of the guy with 15 pitbulls by the way. Standing in a pile of dog crap with a wrap around his forearm and heavy chain around the dog (They keep food just out of the reaching distance of the dog while it wears a heavy chain {Stonger/meaner!!!}).
Councilman Gallegos is behind the nuisance dog ordinance because he lives on the East End and knows the situation. The dogs walk themselves then the other dogs who are tied up bark their heads off because they want to play too. The Hispanic immigrants do this and talking to them does no good. And when they get tired of a dog they just relocate it to a park or another neighborhood.
The new dog laws are very much needed and should go much further. I was attacked by two pit bulls when I was jogging through Timbergrove a few years ago. An old lady was out walking them off leash with two lab mixes. I was running on the opposite side of the street. The dogs ran across the street and surrounded me. I stopped running and stood calmly assuming that the owner would come over and get the dogs away from me. But within a half second of the dogs arriving at my feet, one of the pits sunk its jaws into my calf and the other jumped up and tried to bite me on the back, leaving a 4 inch long gash. I managed to scare the dogs off by yelling at them as loud as I could and stomping my feet at their heads. I yelled so loudly that I lost my voice for the next two days. When I tried to waive down a cop car on Shep, the old lady pleaded with me not to get the cops and said that her dogs were friendly and never bit anyone.
Leash laws need to be enforced. Dogs off leash are unpredictable and can be very dangerous. I have a $4,000 ER bill and a 4 inch scar on my back to prove it. I got a @$300 ticket for going 40 mph in a 30 mph speed zone, but every day people in Houston let their dogs run loose on the street and in parks where kids are trying to play.
I am in agreement that this is sorely needed and possibly does not go far enough. The city needs rolling spay/neuter vehicles to serve the lower end of the socioeconomic ladder that are largely responsible for nuisance animals.
People who walk their dogs off-leash or allow them to roam free are a%$holes. My dog has been attacked twice while walking her on a leash. I now carry bear spray and stun baton. Any dog that even approaches me or my dog is now getting a face full of mace.
@ Ian: I am not clear on your spay/neuter proposal. Is it targeted at humans or canines? Either way, I’m with you.
If there are off-leash pit bulls running around a neighborhood just shoot the damn things. Thug world.
TheNiche: lol. I thought he was talking about people at first glance as well.
Off leash dogs are a problem all over town. 11th Street Park is used a as dog park by dozens of people every day, most of whom have yards. I’ve gotten into verbal sparring with a few of them as they let their dogs run all over while kids are playing baseball. i have threatened to call the police on several occasions, although that’s probably an empty threat.
On our street, I was walking with my son when he was 3 or 4, and some guy was walking his lab across the street without a leash. The dog ran across the street at my son, who, fortunately froze. The dog finally ran back to the owner, who grinned and said “he’s still learning to obey”. I told him to keep the damn dog on a leash, it’s the law. He got all mad and said “don’t quote the law to me”.
@OldSchool, if that happens again, just call the cops and let the process run its course. That’s the only way jerk owners will learn.
Re Heights Residents Blocking Drainage Ditches with Rocks and Bricks, Parking Pads
Instead of whining about how Heights residents are blocking drainage ditches “covered up for curb appeal, or needed parking” perhaps the city should get around to finishing the half-done project of installing curbs, gutters in the Heights. Surely in an area where the average new home price is hovering around $1 million there is sufficient tax base to finally get around to installing some 100 year overdue amenities like a proper storm sewer system.
Several years ago I was out walking my 6 lb Yorkie (on a leash) when a pit bull made a beeline across our apartment complex parking lot for my dog after its owners left their front door open while bringing in groceries. Granted, I was living in Waco at the time, but I don’t think the laws and repercussions for dog owners are very different there than they are in Houston. Police were unable to help me and merely suggested to my neighbors that they put their dog down to avoid any future incidents. A year later, I saw them walking the pit, leashed, around a school homecoming parade with thousands of people in attendance. I was shocked and horrified. While I imagine the pit attack was an isolated incident for my neighbors, I wonder why authorities don’t consider that if a dog is willing to attack an unprovoked animal, what’s to stop it from attacking again in the future, and who’s to say it’s next victim won’t be a human?
I don’t think these particular dog owners were “callous.” In fact, they were probably as good and as loving as pet owners can be. I do think, as others have said, animals are simply unpredictable and can act out despite having been raised well. I would like to see the one-bite rule and aggressiveness labels extended to dogs who attack other animals, not just people, and these labels need to come with fines for the owners and the threat of euthanasia for repeated behavior. For roaming animals, I’m afraid the spay/neuter vans Ian mentioned would merely encourage lousy owners to dump their animals onto the streets knowing the city and volunteer organizations will have to take care of them. The new ordinance is a step in the right direction but hopefully just the first of many initiatives on this topic.
About Heights parking pads: an SUV parked head in on a parking pad blocks your view of oncoming traffic while trying to exit your driveway and its scarey if you are trying to back out onto a busy street. Heights’ residents need to stop destroying the Heights’ drainage system and park on their own property. And yes, we pay hefty taxes and deserve curbs and gutters — the only solution to this problem. Meanwhile, the City has finally started addressing bootleg parking pads.
I dont get it. If the guy has 97 citations that have not been addressed then shouldnt there be a warrant out for his arrest? So the next time he gets pulled over for a tail light he gets put behind bars. I am for due process though when going after owners. The SPCA types have good intentions, but they strong-armed my uncle once into a cancer surgery for his dog of 10 years and all he ended up with was a $2500 bill and a dead dog on the operating table.