Wikimedia Commons / Zoepa
A stray dog sits beside the road.
San Antonio City Council this Thursday will consider an amended citywide ordinance that would slap steep financial penalties on those who dump animals at the dog pound.
Proposed by Animal Care Services Director Jonathan Gary and Assistant City Manager David McCary, the ordinance would impose first-offense fines of $500 to $2,000 on those seen by a witness or caught on camera abandoning domesticated cats and dogs at the city facility. A second offense would result in a minimum penalty of $1,000, while subsequent offenses would rise to a minimum of $2,000.
If the offender dumps multiple animals at once, each would count as a separate offense under the proposal.
Animal abandonment is already classified as either a Class A misdemeanor, a state jail felony or a third-degree felony under state law, depending on the surrounding circumstances. However, Gary told the San Antonio Report the state law is usually applied only when an animal is abused or harmed.
San Antonio’s anti-dumping ordinance comes as they city continues to grapple with a stray- and dangerous-dog problem. However, significant progress has been made since Gary replaced former ACS Director Shannon Sims in December.
ACS responded to 82% of 3,200 critical calls between October 2024 and April 2025, city records show — a significant improvement from the 62.4% response rate under Sims’ watch.
Even so, ACS is facing a 1% budget cut over the next two years due to the pending city budget deficit.
Subscribe to SA Current newsletters.
Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter| Or sign up for our RSS Feed