SAN ANTONIO – Following last week’s deadly dog attack that left an 81-year-old man dead and three others injured, many San Antonio residents are expressing concern about aggressive dogs in their neighborhoods.
We asked people to tell us about their experiences with loose or aggressive dogs in the city and have received dozens of responses so far and we’re working to get your questions answered.
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Did you know you can check on the status of your call Animal Care Services-related call to 311 through the city’s website?
An interactive map plots every call with an open status and there are hundreds, if not thousands of open requests.
In the last calendar year — Oct. 2021 through Sep. 2022 — Animal Care Services received more than 87,000 calls. Most were concerning animals roaming loose.
The city recorded 3,592 bites during the same time frame, but that number includes any time any kind of animal breaks someone’s skin or a person is exposed to high-risk wildlife like skunks or bats.
In order for a dog to be considered “dangerous” by city ordinance — an ACS officer needs to witness an incident or needs an affidavit from a witness or victim.
If a dog gets that designation, the owner can be forced to take numerous extra precautions, like keeping it inside the house or a special enclosure, getting $100,000 of liability insurance, and keeping it muzzled and leashed when outside the enclosure.
The label remains with a dog for its entire life.
If the same dog attacks someone again after being labeled “dangerous,” a court can order it to be euthanized, according to city code.
There are currently 111 dogs labeled “dangerous” within the city, according to an Animal Care Services.
ACS usually has less than 10 officers at any one time to handle calls 24 hours a day, year round.
Click on the map below to view current open requests for the City of San Antonio: