Get TPR's best stories of the day and a jump start to the weekend with the 321 Newsletter — straight to your inbox every day. Sign up for it here.
San Antonio's Animal Care Services graduated its largest cadet class this week, adding 16 new officers.
ACS expects to add another 15 officers next year in order to handle stray and loose dog complaints across the city. But advocates say more needs to be done to address the issue, which has gotten worse in recent years.
In February, an elderly man was mauled to death by two dogs that escaped an enclosed yard on the city's West Side.
Last month on the Northeast side, another man died after being attacked in his own backyard by a neighbor's dogs that also escaped a fenced-in yard.
This week, a man was attacked by two dogs while walking on the city’s West Side when a neighbor with a gun shot the dogs to save his life.
"It's a very hard problem, and the city has ignored it forever, and now it's a big problem because people are actually dying," said Vicki Steerman, founder of Charlie's Legacy Dog Rescue and an advocate for responsible dog ownership in San Antonio.
She's one of many residents across the city who have become increasingly vocal at city council meetings.
"It's a very apparent problem. We see it every day in this city," she said. "There's no way you can live here and not know that it exists."
Steerman said an increased budget for ACS and additional patrol officers is a good start but the city needs a more holistic approach to the problem.
"Control is not enough," she said. "Sweeping dogs off the city — when you sweep those areas, I will tell you without equivocation that within 15 to 30 more days, you've got the same problem out there."
She praised ACS for embracing a multifaceted approach in its latest strategic plan but that it needs more help from city leaders to create more spay and neuter opportunities, prioritize enforcement of existing ordinances, crack down on backyard breeders, and do more to promote responsible pet ownership.
