The city of Fort Worth is trying to corral stray animals off the streets and back to pet owners.
‘Fence Them In – It’s the Law’ is an education and outreach campaign targeted at “high bite and stray activity” problem areas in Fort Worth.
Director of the campaign Scott Bennett said the main focus is educating pet owners how to responsibly take care of their animals.
“This is our first attempt to address the issue at the source, which is the pet owners,” Bennett said.
According to the campaigns informal report, the program will deal with more than fencing regulations. It will seek to inform the community about vaccination as well as license and leash laws.
“I applaud the efforts to target pet owners and hold them responsible for their actions,” Sal Espino, District 2 city councilman, said.
Bennett said the idea was sparked more than a year ago when more than 12,000 stray dogs were removed from public streets.
The Animal Care & Control Division (ACC) of Code Compliance partnered with the Fort Worth Police Department and the United States Postal Service for the outreach program.
“The post office is a great asset for us because they can report areas and neighborhoods where strays are a serious problem,” Bennet said.
According to the campaign, there are 10 zip codes throughout the city that the ACC have deemed “high stray and bite activity” areas, most of them in the eastern and northern parts of the city.
The campaign will use marketing tactics, such as postcards, door hangers and billboards, to spread the information throughout the targeted areas.
“This is a great campaign and we are excited to see how it turns out,” Mayor Betsy Price said.