BARC Houston aims to reduce number of dangerous animal calls around with new city funding

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Houston has a stray dog problem. From bites and attacks to disease, letting stray dogs run wild can be dangerous for people, but it also leaves countless dogs in dangerous situations.

Eyewitness News joined BARC Houston, the city’s animal enforcement team, as they crawled under homes, into culverts, and dished out tins of cat food. It’s all part of the job as they respond to 311 calls for stray animals.

Hector Estrella is a full-time enforcement officer with the city’s animal shelter, BARC Houston. From wrestling alligators to locating iguanas, Estrella said he has seen a lot on the streets of Houston, but a lot of his work is responding to calls from the community about stray dogs.

One dog picked up during ABC13’s ride-along with Estrella was called in by the manager of a north Houston apartment complex, who became emotional as she described the number of abandoned dogs she’s encountered there.

“This property is the same, everybody brings a dog, no one cares, I’m so tired,” the manager said.

At another call near Waco St and I-10 on the east side, a small dog is picked up.

“Hey, baby. Hi. Hey, girl. How you doing?” Estrella calls out while opening a can of wet cat food.

A nearby neighbor came out of a home and claimed to be the owner, but a scan of its microchip didn’t show her name. The dog was taken in, where it will be updated on vaccines, and the owner will be able to pick it up once she provides proof of ownership, like pictures or vet records.

“That’s the main factor. That’s why we want to enforce people to microchip their dogs because if they are on the street and we do end up picking them up, we know who they belong to,” Estrella said.

The rescues ABC13 witnessed with BARC are the easier ones, but the number of priority 1 and 2 calls is growing. These calls indicate immediate danger for either a dog or a person.

BARC records obtained by ABC13 show that in 2022, over 13,736 priority 1 and 2 calls were made. In 2023, that number grew to over 15,351. 2024 records show 17,209 priority 1 and 2 calls. And in the first six months of 2025, already 8,724 calls.

Those numbers include calls to assist other jurisdictions. On June 10, the sheriff’s office asked BARC to assist their team as law enforcement investigated a crime scene in northeast Harris County. According to the sheriff’s office, 14-year-old Zachariah Benjamin was riding his bike when aggressive dogs forced him to veer into the road. Zachariah was hit and killed by a driver who fled the scene and is still wanted.

In that sweep, BARC removed over a dozen aggressive and stray dogs from the neighborhood.

Eyewitness News asked BARC Deputy Shelter Director Corey Stottlemyer why Houston has a stray dog problem.

“It’s a big problem in the south in particular. We have a year-round breeding season. Part of it is an education factor. There’s a lot of, unfortunately, irresponsible pet owners in the city of Houston. A lot of people, even if they’re provided access, choose not to get their animals spayed or neutered,” Stottlemyer said.

BARC is hoping to turn the number of high-priority calls around with the help of new funding. As the city faces financial challenges, two budget amendments were written into the city’s budget to help fund the department.

$350,000 was earmarked for a cleaning service that frees up BARC employees to focus on recovering and caring for animals.

$134,000 has allowed the team to hire two additional animal enforcement officers, beefing up their staff to 26 full-time enforcement officers.

“The dogs in the street, they don’t have a voice. There’s no one that can, they can’t speak for themselves, so doing this helps the animals. I feel like at the end of the day, getting these dogs off the street can help them,” Estrella said.

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