Houston cop forces family to leave blind Chihuahua on roadside to die

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The mayor of Houston has apologized to a family whose nearly blind dog was killed in traffic after a police officer forced them to leave it on the side of the road.

Josie Garcia told KTRK that the family pet Chihuahua, named Guero, was along for the trip when her husband gave a friend a ride on July 13. The men were stopped by a Houston police officer for failing to use a turn signal, and a search of the vehicle turned up prescription medication, which Garcia said belonged to the passenger.

The officer took both men into custody. And when the tow truck arrived, the dog was placed on the side of the road.


“My husband pleaded with the officer to let him call someone to come get Guero, and asked him to call Barc [animal shelter], but he said it wasn’t his problem, that the dog would be fine,” Garcia recalled.

Charges against Garcia’s husband were later dropped, but the family still could not find their dog.

Garcia placed “lost” signs around the area where Guero was last seen, and three days later, she was notified that she could find the dog lying dead on Eastex Freeway. The 14-year-old pet, which was almost completely blind from cataracts, had been hit by a car.

After filing a complaint with the HPD Internal Affairs, and voicing her concerns before the City Council, Garcia got an apology from the mayor.

“Let me give you a public apology right now on behalf of the city of Houston,” Mayor Annise Parker said. “I don’t know what airhead — there’s another word in my mind but I’m not going to say it — would throw, you wouldn’t put a kid on the side of the road. You shouldn’t put someone’s pet on the side of the road.”

The Houston Police Department also expressed its condolences, but could not comment on the case because of an ongoing internal investigation.

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