Pilot program hopes to get stray dogs off San Antonio streets

SAN ANTONIO - New details on the pilot program that could get dogs off the streets. Some said it could even pave the way for more safety measures.

Rufus Guerrero said it's common to see dogs roaming outside the East Side garage he works at.

“There's a bunch of dogs, little ones, big ones,” Guerrero said.

Guerrero adds he's glad the issue is being addressed.

“Really good to have something like that for the city. Yeah, especially in this area,” Guerrero said.

He’s not the only ones who say stray and roaming dogs are an issue in his side of San Antonio. In fact, a pilot program that was started before the deadly dog attack occurred earlier this year to show how many dogs had been returned to their owners.

The Animal Care Services (ACS) pilot program started in Districts two and three. It involves a 10-person team that reunites dogs with owners or classifies them as strays. Over the course of six weeks, the team returned nearly 700 pets to owners and more than 600 were microchipped.

We talked with both councilmembers about how the pilot program helped their areas.

“I don't think it's surprising to my constituents, that we would have that high of a number in the east and southeast sides of town. I think it's important that ACS go out for themselves and see this information and collect this data, because it will inform solutions moving forward,” District Two Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez said.

“I found that was successful. But there's a lot more to do. We still need to address the stray issue. What do we do with these abandoned dogs and what do we do with the dogs that are, you know, are left in different parts of the town and the owners can't be found,” District Three Councilwoman Phyllis Viagran said.

ACS director Shannon Sims said 94% of the animals they found have owners. Sims adds they will continue to take their 10-person team to hotspots in the city to address concerns.

“We've tried to reinforce that we have an ownership problem. After the event on February 24, we've kind of retooled it a little bit to be not only resource oriented and getting those roaming animals off the streets, but to have some enforcement associated with it,” Sims said.

Enforcement Guerrero said could save lives.

“People will overcorrect. You know, they'll try to dodge a dog end up in a building,” Guerrero said.

Sims said he hopes to make this a fully funded program by the start of the next fiscal year.

Next week, ACS will be presenting their strategic plan to San Antonio City Council.