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Humans have spent millennia coexisting with the dogs that have earned a reputation as man’s best friend, but there are obviously some exceptions to that distinction. Some people in a small town in Texas have learned that the hard way, as a gradually growing gang of feral dogs has managed to put many of its residents on edge.
Experts believe humans in Siberia were responsible for becoming the first people to domesticate dogs around 20,000 years ago. That development seemingly stemmed from someone looking at a wolf and thinking, “I would like to live with that large, ferocious carnivore,” which was a fairly bold decision that managed to work out pretty well for all parties involved.
That relationship was initially a symbiotic one where dogs and the people who looked after them were both able to reap the benefits that came with joining forces to hunt. However, it slowly but surely evolved into the one most people are familiar with today: owners giving their canines bowls of food and their fair share of treats to get unconditional love and affection in return.
Most dogs are able to peacefully coexist with humans, but they’re still animals driven by instinct that has the potential to spawn some unfortunate scenarios—including the one some people in The Lone Star State are being forced to grapple with.
Residents of Godley, Texas are on high alert due to a pack of feral dogs that’s started to cause problems
You may be surprised to learn that the majority of dogs that currently roam the planet are technically classified as wild animals; only 20% of the estimated 900 million in the world are kept as pets, and many countries (including India, Russia, and a number of places in Eastern Europe) boast a sizeable population of roaming dogs that don’t answer to any owner.
That’s a fairly rare sight to encounter in the United States, but according to NBC DFW, it’s one that people in Godley, Texas (a town with a population of around 4,000 located southwest of Fort Worth) have become a bit too familiar with for their liking.
The outlet obtained surveillance footage captured in the Star Ranch neighborhood that shows a sizeable pack of feral dogs roaming the area at night.
It spoke with one resident who said he ran to grab his gun during an incident where his family had to seek shelter after they were charged at by a barking horde of canines around the beginning of September, saying, “The dogs are going to look for food, and I don’t want my children to be that dog food.”
Local officials believe the growing pack—which currently boasts upwards of 40 dogs—is the result of people abandoning unwanted pets in the area, and a member of the city council plans to formally discuss options to address Godley’s “wild dog issue” at a meeting on Tuesday.