Couple furious that invisible fence didn't stop authorities taking their dog

A north Texas couple are furious after they say one of their dogs was unjustly picked up by Dallas animal control. A Dallas county constable says the dogs were running loose, but the couple says there's more than meets the eye: Max and Matlock roam freely in their south Dallas yard. But their owners say the Springer Spaniels never leave the premises ... they're enclosed by an invisible fence.

"It sends an electrical vibration and the dogs have collars on that sense that and they'll hear a chirp, so that warns them that they are coming up close to it," owner Dale Pannell says. "If they continue on it there is about a foot either side that if they continue on it they'll get a little bit of a shock on their neck." So when Dallas animal control picked up one of their dogs for running loose, Wendy and Dale Pannell were furious.



Wendy Pannell says, "My understanding is if a dog is contained in a fence animal control shouldn't come and get them." Dale continues, "This is considered a restraint for dogs and we've never had any problems with them going out into the yard, no one has called on the dogs or anything. They didn't pay attention to the sign that says there's an invisible fence that restrains them." A Dallas constable called animal control after he said he felt threatened by the dogs ... and said the dogs followed him onto the street.

The city maintains the fence may not have been working when they took the dog out of the yard. Wendy Pannell says, "If there is a power outage or something, it has a battery backup and it will let out a piercing siren, so you know immediately that the fence in inoperable." The couple paid $37 to get their dog out of the animal shelter. They've now filed a complaint with the constables office and the city of Dallas.

With news video.