At the same time the city’s Animal Care Services department is cracking down on nonprofit partners that release unsterilized animals to the public, the city’s own shelter is taking criticism for returning thousands of intact animals back to their owners.
For the 2024 fiscal year, which ends in October, the department anticipates approximately 4,800 impounded pets will be reclaimed by the owner without having been neutered, according to a City Council background document.
That number drew concern Wednesday from Mayor Ron Nirenberg and other members of the City Council’s Governance Committee, which learned about it during a briefing about broader proposals to cut down on the number of stray and roaming animals in San Antonio.
The city pays for 40,000 free or low-cost spay/neuter surgeries per year for the community to get their pets fixed, and added funds to this year’s budget to add two additional clinics.
Nirenberg said Wednesday that the city needs to reprioritize which animals it’s focused on, if it’s not addressing the problem of unsterilized roaming animals.
“Any stray animal that’s picked up without an owner, or without an owner who’s restraining their animal, those need to be the first ones that we take care of,” Nirenberg said. “Those are probably the ones most likely to be dangerous dogs wreaking havoc on the community.”
Among the changes the council is considering at Animal Care Services is a requirement that the department not give impounded animals back to their owners until they’re spayed or neutered.
It’s something other Texas cities already do, but department leaders say they don’t have capacity for the surgeries at the city’s shelter, where a new animal hospital is expected to break ground next year and be completed in 2027.
Instead, when animals are found free of restraint, the city gives pet owners a sterilization agreement saying the animal must be spayed or neutered within 30 days, ACS interim director David McCary told the committee Wednesday.
The owner is supposed to submit evidence that they’ve complied, or the court system is alerted and a citation is issued. ACS is responsible for following up to verify the evidence.
“What’s the percentage of compliance for those who are issued sterilization agreements?” asked Councilwoman Adriana Rocha Garcia (D4).
“I would say that participation is low,” McCary answered. “Up to this point, … we’ve issued them, but the actual follow-through, I’d have to get back with you on that percentage because the resources haven’t been there.”
Last year the City Council gave Animal Care Services a 33% budget increase, including funds for the new community spay/neuter clinics.
But those clinics aren’t currently expected to make up the gap of veterinary care capacity at the shelter, ACS Chief Operations Officer Bethany Colonnese said in an interview earlier this month.
“I was a little struck on the last part of the conversation about resources,” Nirenberg said at the end of the meeting.
Referring to the community clinics, he said, “those spay and neuter programs I am far less concerned about because those are responsible pet owners that are bringing their pets in voluntarily to do the right thing.”
“The first dollars into our spay and neuter program need to go to this,” Nirenberg said.
