SAN ANTONIO — The Lavaca neighborhood on the south side of town is usually fairly quiet but over the last few weeks, something stirred its residents.
"On March 6 at 3:00 a.m., a pack came in and attacked a colony and they unfortunately killed one of the members," resident Nataly told KENS on Tuesday.
Nataly is talking about a cat colony, which a community of cats in which they trap, neuter and return (TNR) to the public. Nataly said the colony has recently been a target for a pack of dogs that roam at night.
"[The dogs] returned three more times," she said. "My concern is the community pets and also will these dogs get braver and come out during the day and try to attack someone too."
That's where the problem lies: Using her surveillance camera, Nataly told KENS 5 these dogs only come out between 3:00-6:00 a.m., a down time for Animal Care Services.
"We don't have officers between midnight and 6:00-7:00 a.m. patrolling because it's an ineffective use of time," Shannon Sims, the assistant director of San Antonio Animal Care Services said.
But ACS is still trying to find a solution. Officers put out dog traps previously, but have not been successful.
Nataly has now asked the neighborhood to help out. The resident of eight years and her husband posted flyers urging anyone to report any sightings of the dogs.
"We just want to make sure we're protecting the neighborhood pets and people," she added.
ACS did tell KENS 5 someone was tampering with the traps, which hindered any of the capture attempts.
Once KENS 5 received that information we did reach back out to Nataly and she did admit to moving the food from the traps because the cats were tripping the traps hours before the dogs were coming out. Since that conversation, she said she has left a voicemail with an ACS officer explaining herself.
Animal Care Services urges anyone who sees ACS animal traps to leave them alone.
"The most important thing is, be our eyes and our eyes, but keep your hands off," Sims said.