An Albuquerque man says he’s outraged at the city after he found a dog unconscious and that it took them three hours to respond.
Placido Rivera says he saw the pit bull laying lifeless in his neighbor’s driveway Friday afternoon.
“It was laying on the floor just lights out. The dog was not responsive,” Rivera says.
Rivera says its unclear how long the dog had been wandering the Westside neighborhood. He says he and his neighbor splashed water on the dog for about 30 minutes until he regained consciousness.
“The dog was finally able to start drinking water on its own and came to,” Rivera says.
Rivera also says he and his neighbor did everything the could to help the animal so the reached out to the city.
“They told us a dying dog in our yard was not a priority,” Rivera says.
Rivera says they called the city four times and they were told there was only one animal control officer working the area. She arrived three hours later.
“It makes my blood boil especially because it was an animal in distress and we made the proper phone calls and yet we go no action, Rivera says.
Animal Welfare officials say the officer didn’t respond right away because she was trying to capture an aggressive dog that was loose in a neighborhood. Then she received a call about a snake crawling through a public place.
Rivera thinks the city needs to add more animal control officers.
“Especially because these are our tax dollars at work, one crew for the whole West Side. One crew,” Rivera says.
The Animal Welfare Department says it is in the process of hiring more field agents. The dog found Friday had a microchip and was returned to its owner.
