Dog mauled by strays

Sad news this a.m. My dad called to tell me our dog, Mater, has been beaten up and probably has a broken leg. There's been a stray female dog hanging around outside our fence for the past few weeks. She came in heat and a pack of male dogs showed up, causing my dog to get out and get hurt.

I had contacted City Hall numerous times to try to get her away from my fence. Before we left town, the female had gotten in my yard, so I called and the dog catcher, Jerry Taylor, came to get her. He couldn't catch her and she hid under the porch. He said he would come back later with help, but he never showed. Later that evening, she just jumped my fence and left.

I was afraid of this very thing happening. None of my dogs had ever shown any interest in getting out before, but females in heat cause problems. That's why I tried to get her gone before I left town last Thursday.

Now here I am out of state and my parents and brother-in-law are having to deal with the mess. My mom said it's been awful all weekend with the dogs hanging around and ours being stirred up.

I spent over $1500 to build a fence (not to mention Harley's labor) so that my dogs would stay where they belong. Mater is a sweet teddy bear of a dog that never hurts a thing. Now he's laying at the vets possibly near death because someone else couldn't keep their dog penned up.

I'm wondering what we're paying a dog catcher to do. And who we call when the dog catcher can't catch the dog?