Q: Aggravated at large. Neighbor put in his fence. He aggravated/refused to surrender. Winnable?
dogs ran out of garage. We tried to call them back. He put in his fence fast. I apologized. He said. I called police. Your not being neighborly please let me take them home & I will get a ticket, sorry But its 100 decrees. He said, get off my property ignorant! I was on the side walk. I was shocked looked around. Seen BLM sign. I told him I see what this is about.
I feel the police seen that sign & catered to him. We sat there in the hot sun for 2 hrs waiting for him to write his statement. Stated he feared for his life. Yet he put in his fence. He kept Kicking fence cause they were crying & jumping up to get out. Over 100 decrees no water. 2 hrs later when they opened gate the man/friends never moved away in fear. Female dog barked, then they both ran to me. I feel he was aggravating them. He called the dogs to him & refused to surrender them. Even when cops were there he stated no, he didn't want us in his yard. Unfair/Dog abuse. Do I have a chance
A:
The police would have taken action if they had probable cause to believe that someone committed a crime like Cruelty to Animals. There is a different law for livestock because we don't eat our pets.
If there is a dispute over the ownership of the dogs then it is probably a civil matter to be resolved in your precinct Justice of the Peace court. Theft laws about lost or abandoned property are not a good fit for "personal property" that can run off on its own volition and the rules for "estrays" only apply to livestock animals. The police do sometimes get involved in this type of case, but theft requires a specific intent to deprive the owner of the property at the time you take possession and that might be difficult to prove beyond a reasonable doubt against a person attempting to rescue a stray dog, especially one with no tags.
You can read the law here: https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/PE/htm/PE.42.htm#42.092
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