SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio Animal Care Services is reporting it is already seeing an impact from its strategic plan.
Director of Animal Care Services Shannon Sims reiterating two main goals including personal safety and public safety.
"Making it safe for the animals, and the residents," he said. "What worked three years ago, is not what is necessarily going to work today," he said.
ACS reports in the first months of the fiscal year it has brought on close to 20 additional animal care officers.
"Right now the officer hiring has been a tremendous help," Sims said. "It is hard to move the needle on how the public is reacting to laws that are in place and things like that, if you don't have the enforcement out there that is reinforcing that."
Sims also said a main component is the community's involvement.
"We have to really ingrain the community that you have to invest time to get a good animal," he said. "It doesn't just happen."
Since the start of the current fiscal year, ACS reports more than 2,300 citations have been issued. In the same time frame, 62 dogs have been declared dangerous or aggressive.
"We always hear we have a stray dog problem, the true stray dogs aren't the ones that are inflicting these vicious attacks," he said. "We are hearing about, every one of them over the last year, the severe attacks I have been able to tie to an owner."
Sims did say more people are calling the department reporting better information on incidents like dangerous dogs.
There are several layers to this plan. Another component is spay and neuter. ACS says it planning to open two additional spay-neuter clinics this year. The department said these facilities will guided by a map showing the city's "veterinary deserts". If you want to read this full plan, click here.
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