District 2 Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez speaks during Thursday’s public safety meeting at City Hall. Credit: Michael Karlis

Members of City Council’s Public Safety Committee expressed dismay during Thursday meeting at Animal Control Services’ lackluster performance last year despite a $15 million boost to its budget.

The budget increase, phased in over the past two years, also came in conjunction with a change in the department’s top leadership. Despite both, ACS director John Gary presented numbers suggesting San Antonio’s stray and dangerous dog problem may be getting worse.

Beyond that, when pressed by District 2 Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez about the data, Gary revealed that ACS does not currently pick up stray dogs due to a lack of space in its holding facility. Instead, he explained, the department is focused on dealing with dangerous dogs cases and bite responses.

“I think that’s the problem right there,” McKee-Rodriguez said. “When those dogs are roaming , if they’re unfixed, what are they doing? They’re expanding the population. Then those animals start to congregate, and they form packs. Then they became dangerous animals. So, the root of the problem is much further down. It starts at those low-level calls.”

The number of ACS dangerous dog cases ultimately dismissed in the courts jumped 53% between fiscal years 2024 and 2025, Gary told council members. He also added that the number of cases investigated by the department without a completion increased by 19%.

All of this comes as the number of dangerous dog cases snowballed by 73% during over the same time period.

Gary blamed number of dismissed cases on the judicial system and the lack of witness cooperation.

Two dog-attack victims and animal activists who spoke at Thursday’s meeting — Kathy Vale and Kelly Walls — urged City Council to get out front of the city’s dangerous dog problem instead of reacting to incidents after they already happen.

“Every time somebody is killed or someone loses an arm or a leg, city council is reactive,” Walls said.

District 10 Councilman Marc Whyte, who’s often at odds with McKee-Rodriguez when it comes to public safety, agreed with his colleague that the city was falling behind. He suggested working with McKee-Rodriguez on a Council Consideration Request to build an additional ACS satellite office to hold additional stray dogs.

“I’m glad we added the additional resources that we did a couple of years ago,” Whyte said. “I think we’re certainly making the improvements there, but there’s more to be done. This is most definitely a public safety issue.”

Gary said the best resource ACS could acquire from council is more staff.

Even so, Gary’s ask and the issues at ACS come as San Antonio navigates a projected $130 million budget deficit by 2028. In addition to dealing with the dangerous dog problem, council is also at odds over plans to hire new police officers and whether to approve a possible San Antonio Water System Rate Hike.

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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,...