Conroe residents terrorized by roaming dogs

CONROE, TX The resident says her ranch is surrounded by two subdivision where many dogs are allowed to simply run free, and that has left her animals under attack.

When Paula Faulk walked out Monday morning and saw piles of feathers, she thought here we go again.

"They were in these piles, you see three piles of feathers," said Faulk.

Three guineas were killed overnight. She removed the bodies, but their feathers are still scattered on the grass, the latest victims, she says, of neighboring dogs who come onto her property and attack her animals.

"The dogs were coming in and killing them, before I could pen them. So I built this pen," Faulk said.

She's even had to change the way she raises chickens.

"That cover alone was $800," said Faulk.

She's lived on a ranch in Conroe for 16 years, but recently she says she hasn't felt safe here. Six months ago, she says she had to get out a shotgun and fire at two of the trespassing dogs.

"The dog attacked us, came out of the dark and attacked us," Faulk said.

But the worst event happened last week, when she discovered her six-week-old Philly named Jewel in very bad shape.

"You could see the skin marks where the colt ran and would run into the fence and where the blood she had put out was all over the fence. She couldn't get out of the paddock," said Faulk.

She says dogs trapped, chased, and clawed the animal so badly that she repeatedly ran into fence rails. The horse was bloody and bruised, and had to be put down.

Two days later, animal control retrieved a dog from her property. Police say the owner has been cited, but they are still investigating the case for more possible charges.

"Right now we don't have the physical evidence to show that that is the dog that killed the horse," said Sgt. Bob Berry of the Conroe Police Department. "That's very hard to prove."

To Faulk, the horse was an $8,000 loss, but the emotional cost is what troubles her.

"I want to make people aware of the problem, that they're hurting other people. It's not fair," she said.

The woman says the dogs are not wild, rather domesticated. She says they are not going after the animals for food, but just attacking them out of boredom. Faulk says the dogs have collars, but the owners just repeat the process.