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The San Antonio City Council approved a new animal abandonment ordinance on Thursday just one week after Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones had the item removed before its initially scheduled vote.
It created a new local penalty of between $500 and $2,000 and a Class C misdemeanor for abandoning animals in San Antonio, depending on how many times the offense was committed, with the goal of deterring the practice.
Jones withdrew the item from last Thursday’s agenda because the policy process that led to the proposed ordinance was not complete by the time the new city council was sworn in this summer.
District 5 Councilmember Teri Castillo, District 7 Councilmember Marina Alderete Gavito — who wrote the initial council consideration request related to the protection of peafowl that led to the proposed ordinance — and District 10 Councilmember Marc Whyte then signed a three-signature memo to force the item on this week’s agenda.
It marked the second time the trio used the rare procedural move to push back against the mayor’s policymaking decisions and place an item on a council agenda for a discussion or a vote.
“I appreciate the council members’ advocacy for this legislation, but it is still important to remember that we are a new council and there are several members who did not have an opportunity to review the ordinance,” Jones said in a statement after the three-signature memo was filed. “These council members are skipping an important step in the legislative process. I believe that our new council has the responsibility to review proposals that did not complete the legislative process in the previous session."
Castillo, Alderete Gavito, and Whyte said the ordinance had already been vetted and had over a year and a half of staff time spent on it in their memo. They added that Jones was trying to “obstruct the legislative process.”
Multiple animal advocates who spoke ahead of the vote on Thursday said the ordinance may be used against people who feed or care for stray animals but do not keep them, and that existing state laws penalizing animal abandonment have not deterred the practice.
It is a state Class A misdemeanor to unreasonably abandon an animal in their custody.
Alderete Gavito said the new ordinance would support the city’s efforts to prevent dog attacks.
“The issue of animal dumping in our city is out of hand, and it is already illegal,” she said. “We have seen deaths in our community. We have to make this right. It should never be okay to dump a dog. This is complementing the laws that already exist. This ordinance change is a no-brainer.”
Staff from Animal Care Services and the City Attorney’s Office clarified that the ordinance would not apply to people who trap, spay or neuter, and then release stray cats, or to non-domesticated animals like frogs, raccoons, or other wild animals.
Instead, it applies to those who “intentionally, knowingly or recklessly” abandon animals.
Before the vote, Jones asked to delay the item once again to have some more clarity on the ordinance and receive further public input, but the council did not support a further delay.
“I think we did clarify a lot of questions and concerns today, so thanks again for staff on clarifying that,” Alderete Gavito said in response to the mayor’s request. “We’re good as-is.”
"Today, I voted 'no' on the proposed change to the abandonment ordinance, because it lacked the required due diligence and public engagement," Jones said in a statement after the vote. "The Animal Care Services Director [Jonathan Gary] acknowledged the proposed change would have a ‘minimal impact,’ and long-time animal rights community leaders clearly stated the proposed ordinance would be counterproductive and cause public confusion."
The ordinance was approved 10-1, with Jones the only member voting against it.
