Stray dogs terrorize Memphis neighborhood
Jan 15, 2025
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- A Memphis man has been trying to get stray dogs he claims are aggressive moved out of his neighborhood and taken somewhere safe so that he and his neighbors can be safe too.
We reached out to the city on Tuesday, which says Memphis Animal Services is working with animal control on the case, but so far things have gotten worse — more dogs showed up Wednesday morning.
On Tuesday, we told you about two dogs that have seemingly taken over the yard of a Longview Heights home. They have been there a week and homeowner Ashley Davis says he's tried to get help with the city and animal control, but no one has taken the issue seriously.
When we showed up, the dogs were sitting by the entrances to his home.
Stray dogs causing problems in South Memphis neighborhood.
We asked Davis if the dogs had been aggressive, and he responded, "Yes, every day, including this morning. I've had to stand out here with a shovel and a walking stick just so my grandkids can get in the car to go to school."
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A day after our initial report, we checked back in on the situation.
"It was crazy this morning," Davis said.
He showed us pictures of four more dogs that showed up today.
"The dogs are just hanging out. It was club canine this morning. That's what I call it," he said.
But there were no jokes this morning when he was on his way to work and saw two girls walking to the bus stop.
"The dogs see them and take off after them and so they're naturally frightened and the dogs literally surround them and I'm in my vehicle so I drive up. I actually pop the curb to frighten the dogs," said Davis.
The dogs scattered.
Davis told us he doesn't feed the dogs. He says he's at his wit's end, losing faith they will be picked up.
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"I don't know why they picked us. I haven't been able to track a pattern of any sort as to their comings and their goings," said Davis. "This is too much."
As many in his neighborhood are elderly, he's concerned someone could get seriously hurt.
"I mean what are we supposed to do? And what are our tax dollars pay for?" he said.
The city says a crew from MAS did make the scene yesterday but didn't see the dogs. They say they can't set traps due to the frigid temperatures but will be doing routine patrols in the neighborhood to hopefully track them down.