Caldwell woman advocates for responsible pet ownership after non-profit overload

A woman in Caldwell wrote a children's book about her own rescue dog to encourage responsible pet ownership.

• Caldwell resident Diana Yarzagaray released a children's book called "Meet Lily Pu" to advocate for responsible pet ownership.
• The book features her own rescue dog from non-profit Haven Animal Rescue of Texas, which is having difficulty keeping up with the demands of overpopulation.
• The book encourages pet owners to spay and neuter pets and can be purchased here .

BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:

There are many shelter animals in Burleson County, and it's becoming too much for local organizations to handle.

"There are a lot of people who they will let their dogs roam and their cats even though they're not fixed, so that leads to a lot of litters and where those litters end up going is usually to H.A.R.T. to the Haven Animal Rescue of Texas."

Local advocate Diana Yarzagaray is turning to education.

She's the author of "Meet Lily Pu," a new book encouraging responsible pet ownership.

"Writing a children's book was something i never thought I would do," she said.

Her inspiration hits close to home.

Her dog is Lily — a rescue pup.

"She actually came from Haven Animal Rescue of Texas, and my mother, Deborah Maya Lazarus, was fostering lily and then adopted her," Yarzagaray said.

"Her story is tragic in the beginning. She was found and had been shot and lost one of her legs. But just like in the story, immediately after that, she's spunky, happy, ready to live life."

The goal is to give the same opportunity to other animals, encouraging people to follow tips like investing time and money into pets, microchipping and spaying and neutering.

"We really want the pet owners themselves to take responsibility to do what's responsible for the pet and for the community at large," she said.

Diana tells me the book has been accepted in the community so far, even recruiting local kids to draw for the next book.

"I know it seems like maybe an insurmountable problem to some, and it's true that it's really hard to stem the flow or to fix this problem completely. But we're all optimistic," she said.