Along the campaign trail and serving as councilwoman for District 7, my team and I have often heard from residents that their top issues are safety and security. This includes our city’s growing problem with aggressive dogs.
On Sunday, a resident tragically died after suffering a gruesome dog attack. This was less than two weeks after another resident was viciously bitten in the neck by a mastiff dog after an argument with the dog’s owner.
Dog attacks in our neighborhoods are a dire concern and demand our attention and immediate action. This requires increasing the city’s financial support to Animal Care Services (ACS) and also addressing the root cause of the overpopulation of dogs in San Antonio.
ACS does commendable work but hasn’t received the funding and support it requires. Currently, ACS only responds to 44% of its calls regarding loose and dangerous dogs, primarily due to high call rates and understaffing. This is unacceptable.
For ACS to do its job sufficiently, we, as a Council, had to immediately act to protect our community. Council increased the operational budget for ACS, thus adding more boots-on-the-ground officers who can remove dogs from the streets and better enforce established safety protocols to protect our residents. Instead of reacting to attacks, adding 29 new staff members to ACS increases its capacity to mitigate dangerous dogs before more tragedy occurs.
ACS has also needed to significantly expand the volume of dog kennels for further intake for quite some time. Compared to other major cities such as Austin or Dallas, San Antonio’s ACS facility is half the size and is at capacity. If we pick up more dogs, we will need space to keep them — another important reason why Council increased ACS’s financial allotment.
With this increased funding for ACS, we must ensure these funds are utilized responsibly to serve our residents and protect our neighbors. My commitment is to meet with ACS monthly to track their progress and to hold them accountable. Additionally, my team and I are releasing weekly surveys to poll our residents on how many loose dog sightings they’ve witnessed in their neighborhood so we can track this as a community.
And as a community, we must address the root cause of the overpopulation of dogs in the city by increasing spaying and neutering. ACS has estimated that 30,000 dogs are roaming the streets in San Antonio at any given time. I was pleased to have collaborated with my colleagues, Councilwomen Sukh Kaur (D1) and Teri Castillo (D5), to advocate for a dedicated, permanent spay and neuter clinic on the West Side.
The planning process for the clinic is presently underway, with plans to strategically place the clinic where our respective council districts converge. This area is where 311 data pinpoints some of the highest dog-related calls per year. By giving residents access to an affordable spay and neuter clinic with a dedicated location, we can decrease the needless overpopulation of dogs.
We must consider our city’s dangerous dog problem a public safety issue. Our community deserves to feel safe in their homes and neighborhoods, and I promise to continue to advocate on this issue not just for District 7, but for all of San Antonio.
