Despite city ordinance, Ahumada says he’s keeping his dogs

City of Brownsville animal control officers will pay a visit to Mayor Pat M. Ahumada Jr.’s East Brownsville home today to inquire about the number of dogs he keeps there.

“The city manager, my boss, made contact with the mayor (Wednesday),” said Joe Hinojosa, the city’s assistant environmental director. “We will work to resolve this issue.”

City Manager Charlie Cabler, Hinojosa, and Ahumada all agreed to go to the mayor’s home on Alan-A-Dale Street this afternoon to determine if he is in violation of a city code that sets the number of dogs to three per household.

On Wednesday, Ahumada told The Brownsville Herald he has six dogs at his Land O’ Lakes subdivision home, inside city limits. Two of those dogs, “Baby” and “Achilles” belong to him. The other four he rescued after he found them roaming city streets, he said.

On Tuesday Ahumada told The Herald, “to go back and take a closer look at the city ordinance,” referring to chapter 10 of the city code that outlines animal regulation and care.

He also declined to allow The Herald to go into his home and to see his dogs, saying he is a “private citizen.”

Ahumada stands by his interpretation of the city’s ordinance, which he believes does not specify the number of dogs that can be kept per household.

A review of section 10.1 of that ordinance defines “kennel” as: “Any building, lot, yard, shed or other place on or in which four or more dogs more than eight weeks old are kept; or any building, lot, yard, shed, or other place on or in which one or more dogs is housed or boarded for pay.”

Section 10.63 of that same ordinance states: “The keeping of any dog kennel within 300 feet from any residence in the city is prohibited and declared a nuisance.”

On Wednesday, the mayor argued that other homes inside city limits have more than three dogs per household. He said that even if he believed he was in violation of the ordinance, he would continue to violate it as a matter of conscience.

“If they are going to start enforcing (the city ordinance) with me, they better enforce it with everyone,” he said. “I know a lot of people that have more than three dogs.”

Ahumada, a self-professed dog lover, views himself as a good person and said he will continue to do what he can for dogs.

“I think I’m doing a good thing,” he said.