Harris County Animal Control Services (2024)

IF YOU HAVE A DOG OR CAT PROBLEM: Harris County Public Health: (281) 999-3191 City of Houston Animal Control: (713) 837-0311 Houston S.P.C.A.: (713) 869-7722 Harris County Animal Services does not handle wildlife issues. They handle problems with domestic animals, namely dogs and cats. If you have a complaint about a barking dog or a dangerous dog, or have any questions about lost pets, stray cats, pet adoptions, leash laws, etc, give the county a call. It is a free county service for domestic animal issues. The county will not take care of the raccoon in your yard, the squirrels in your attic, your rat infestation, or anything like that. For wildlife help, see our phone number below or go to our Houston wildlife removal home page.

What to do when your neighbor’s dog won’t stop barking in Houston - Is your neighbor’s dog keeping you up at all hours of the night and day with its incessant barking? There is nothing worse, especially when you or your kids are trying to sleep! Perhaps the dog barking is setting off your dog and all you can hear all day is a chorus of bad barking? Whatever the case is – you have rights and there are some steps that you should take in order to get the barking to stop.

You will probably want to avoid actually confronting the neighbor as this can often end up in a rather heated debate. You should write or type up a small note mentioning the dog barking – nine times out of ten, the owner will be at work and probably doesn’t even realize what is going on. Make it short, to the point and polite – exactly how you would want someone to talk to you if your dog was making a crazy racket!

If nothing happens, or the letter isn’t in some way acknowledged you can always turn to your local housing organization or landlord if you are renting. There will normally be noise stipulations in rental agreements, so it is well worth finding out if your neighbors are renting and getting in touch with their landlord as well. You will find that most residential areas have noise control rules set in place, so don’t be afraid to find out what your rights are. If nothing happens from your complaint to the owner of the dog and the housing organization, (or neither of you are renting) it’s time to take a different approach. This time, grab some information on the noise control in your area and print them out. Combine this in a neat little package with another letter, basically saying exactly what the first one did, but this time mentioning that this is the second time that you have tried to contact them about the complaint and that you will be taking the matter further if nothing is resolved. Again, do not be threatening or menacing in your words or language.

If you still don’t get a positive outcome from your effort, it’s time to call the boys in blue. You will need to remember that a dog barking situation is not always going to be a priority for your local law enforcement agency, buy you do still have rights so you should report the complaint. Make yourself a log of everything that has been going on – photos or noise clips of the dog barking, times and dates and also how long the barking goes on for, all copies of the correspondence you have with the owner/neighbor etc. You will need all the evidence that you can get your hands on in order to get your problem resolved. Get yourself a lawyer. There are ways around this problem, and if it comes to resorting to a small claims court in order to allow your kids or yourself to get a good night’s sleep or a nap, so be it!

IF YOU HAVE A WILDLIFE PROBLEM: 281-509-9653 We operate a professional wildlife removal and pest company here in Houston Texas. We are wild critter specialists, and deal only with problem animals, such as raccoons, squirrels, rats, bats, snakes, and more. We are fully licensed and insured trained biologists, and provide a complete solution to any wildlife problem. We service homes and commercial properties throughout the greater Houston area. Give us a call any time to discuss your critter problem and we will schedule an immediate appointment. We can usually come to your property same day, or if not, then next day, and we also perform emergency work. We operate 24/7/365.

Harris County Dog/Cat Email: Hi: My name is Aklis and I need help to find which department of Harris County I should refer a complaint: We have a flea infestation coming from our neighbor yard, due to a dog that they have in the back. The dog is not treated properly and even the home next to this property, file a complaint to animal control no long ago, because we saw your van outside. We spoke with the property owner. She said that she will buy chemicals to fight the infestation, but nothing has happen. The infestation is so bad, that we can't go out of the home now, and fleas are coming in now. I have a handicap child and I'm afraid that he get sick due to fleas bites. We almost can't get out of the home. Please help me. My son started his school vacation and now he can't even get out to his own yard. We have spent already a lot of money to get rid of the infestation, but if our neighbor doesn't cooperate and work on the problem as well, we see that we are wasting our money, and it doesn't look that concern the property owner, because she doesn't live there. There is any public health department that help people on problems like this? Please advise

Harris County Wildlife Control Email: We first heard noises in the attic 2 nights ago (November 17), and they sounded louder and heavier than a rat or squirrel. An electrician was in the attic today, and he got a whiff of something stinky and subsequently found some pretty fresh feces that he thought were larger than squirrel droppings. He suspected a possum or raccoon, but saw no openings large enough for either. From the exterior I have found no openings other than wood louvers at 3 gables. When we first moved in 3 yrs. ago I noticed that some of the chicken wire behind the louvers had been pulled back, but it did not appear that the louver openings would accommodate a possum or coon. Previous owners had raccoons in their chimney, so they are in these parts. Lots of squirrels around here, too. You mentioned on your site that if it's a raccoon in the attic, it's probably a mother with young. Do you think that is likely in Houston TX in November? What is your opinion as to what it is? Thanks, Charlie

My response - Could be raccoon or opossum. In either case, there are no young in November. Sometimes the entry point(s) can be very tricky to find. I've had cases in which the animals pushed up soffit covers that fell back into place, and it looks like nothing is open.