Hoping to thin the city’s ever-growing population of strays and the rising cost of killing the animals, the city passed a new ordinance earlier this week to encourage dog and cat owners to fix their pets.

While the ordinance passed Monday by the City Commission does not require pet owners to spay or neuter, it cuts fines to loose animals picked up by the city and by reduces the cost of licensing spade and neutered animals.

The new measure also requires pet sellers to be licensed by the city and subject to inspections, among a host of other measures city commissioners said could help save the city money   Read More

Donna Secory went back for Cocoa.

The Pharr resident found the Chihuahua mix covered in ticks, hungry and running free beside a city street a few months ago.

Thinking the dog’s owner might want him back, Secory took Cocoa to Palm Valley Animal Center to allow the owner to claim the missing pooch.

When nobody took the dog in, Secory adopted him just like she had done with three others from the shelter.

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McALLEN — The clincher for Amber Valinski was the Rio Grande Valley’s huge pet shelter.

Contemplating two job offers, the veterinarian planned to take one in Arizona until she flew down to check out McAllen.

On Valinski’s tour, the directors at the city’s new nonprofit pet sterilization clinic took her to the Palm Valley Animal Center to pull on her heart strings and close the deal.

Valinski called Arizona soon after to turn down that job, telling them she was needed here more.  READ MORE

A new star has been born in the University of Texas Pan-American’s theater program.

“Buttercup,” a golden lab retriever, will make her debut to the stage 8 p.m. Wednesday in the University Theatre Productions’ rendition of John Steinbeck’s classic novel Of Mice and Men. The show will run through Sunday at Albert L. Jeffers Theatre on UTPA’s campus. It will play at 8 p.m. every day and 2 p.m. Sunday.

Few productions of the play cast the dog, which is usually discussed but never shown, said Marian Monta, University Theater professor emeritus. There is a tradition among theater people never to share the stage with a child or a dog because they will steal the focus, she said.  READ MORE

Darcy Leal sees the extent of the Rio Grande Valley’s pet overpopulation problem every day she can.

When her job at a medical office keeps her from volunteering at the Palm Valley Animal Center, she said she feels guilty that she’s not there to dote on the 55 pets available for adoption daily at the shelter.  READ MORE

The woman walked into the animal shelter one Saturday, and she got hooked.

She’s returned for about five hours every day since then. She walks dogs there, leading them around the yard in front of the Palm Valley Animal Center in Edinburg. By her own admission, 48-year-old Darcy Leal is addicted. And it’s a good addiction to have.

Volunteering at the shelter has improved her mood. Even friends have noticed the change. She says she feels peaceful, fulfilled and rewarded – feelings experts say are common for people who volunteer. Volunteering helps the volunteer.  READ MORE

McALLEN — City leaders are considering an ordinance that would require virtually all McAllen dog and cat owners to spay or neuter the animals.

The move is being led by City Commissioner John Ingram, who said the city has to do something to combat the rising cost of managing stray animals for the city.

Last year, the city paid Palm Valley Animal Shelter more than $282,000 to take in and euthanize stray animals. That figure has climbed nearly 90 percent over the past five years.

Local governments in the Valley paid a combined $1.3 million to the shelter in 2008.  READ MORE