San Antonio’s newly approved city budget is 5.8% larger than last year’s but it does include some significant cuts. Credit: Shutterstock

City Council’s Planning and Community Development Committee voted 4-0 Friday against a program that would have helped cover pet deposits for low-income renters.

The program introduced by District 2 Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez would have allocated $50,000 from the city’s housing-assistance program to covering pet deposits to at least 100 eligible renters.

The thinking behind McKee-Rodriguez’s proposal was that it would help the city’s embattled Animal Care Services Department adopt more cats and dogs, increasing the department’s live release rate.

The average pet deposit in San Antonio is about $300, according to city data. The program would have covered pet deposits of up to $500 per pet.

However, most of the members of the committee, including District 8 Councilman Manny Pelaez, a mayoral candidate, said the money should aid humans in need of shelter instead of animals.

“If the biggest problem got is to keeping your dog is the deposit, then you got much bigger problems,” Pelaez said during the meeting.

Even though District 4 Councilwoman Adriana Rocha Garcia and District 5 Councilwoman Teri Castillo initially supported the proposal, both voted against it, as did District 9’s John Courage. 

“I think we have a much greater need for a lot of other services to people than paying a pet deposit,” Courage said. “I think that $50,000 could go into helping people just pay rent so they can stay in their homes themselves.”

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This article appears in Dec 11-17, 2024.

Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...