{"id":200464,"date":"2025-09-04T20:41:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T20:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/200464\/"},"modified":"2025-09-04T20:41:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T20:41:09","slug":"gina-ortiz-jones-delays-fines-for-abandoning-animals-process-issue-or-continuing-power-struggle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/200464\/","title":{"rendered":"Gina Ortiz Jones delays fines for abandoning animals; \u2018process issue\u2019 or continuing power struggle?"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN ANTONIO<\/strong> \u2013 Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones delayed a proposal this week that aimed to punish people who abandon animals in San Antonio, a source told KSAT 12 News.<\/p>\n

The move appears to signal an ongoing power struggle between the mayor and council members regarding how individual members\u2019 policy proposals continue forward.<\/p>\n

The city council had been scheduled to vote on Thursday to fine people between $500 and $2,000 for abandoning any animal within the city. The proposal was part of the consent agenda, which is used for items that aren\u2019t expected to draw any resistance.<\/p>\n

However, as of Wednesday night, a city website showed the proposal had since been withdrawn. It is not clear when the proposal might be considered again.<\/p>\n

A city hall insider told KSAT that Jones was behind having the item withdrawn because it had stemmed from a council consideration request (CCR) made under the previous city council. <\/p>\n

City Manager Erik Walsh told reporters on Thursday he had withdrawn the item. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to do a little bit more work and bring it back,\u201d Walsh said, but he did not answer when asked if the withdrawal was made at the mayor\u2019s request.<\/p>\n

Jones refused to answer reporters\u2019 questions four separate times as she walked between council chambers and closed-door discussion sessions during Thursday\u2019s meeting.<\/p>\n

When asked Wednesday night to confirm whether the mayor had requested the item\u2019s withdrawal, Jones\u2019 chief of staff Jenise Carroll told KSAT in a text exchange, \u201cit should not have been on the agenda\u201d because of a \u201cprocess issue.\u201d <\/p>\n

She also texted KSAT that she was \u201cnot sure of the particulars.\u201d<\/p>\n

KSAT asked Carroll via text message on Thursday if Jones had the item pulled because it was filed under the previous city council. She has yet to respond to KSAT\u2019s question. <\/p>\n

The proposal taken off Thursday\u2019s agenda had roots in a request District 7 councilwoman Marina Alderete Gavito had filed in March 2024. <\/p>\n

The request had been reviewed multiple times by the Public Safety Committee (PSC) \u2014 though the proposal that was advanced at its most recent committee appearance in April was different from what appeared on Thursday\u2019s agenda.<\/p>\n

The District 7 councilwoman told KSAT it was her \u201cunderstanding\u201d the fines proposal had been withdrawn at the mayor\u2019s request, \u201cbut I\u2019m not sure. I\u2019m not 100%.\u201d <\/p>\n

When asked if she saw the withdrawal as retribution, Alderete Gavito said she was \u201cnot sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll I\u2019m gonna say again is that this is the work of our residents,\u201c Alderete Gavito said. \u201dYou know, they want us to push these changes \u2014 whether it\u2019s animal abandonment, whether it\u2019s addressing cluster mailboxes, again, whether it\u2019s getting seniors senior centers. I\u2019m their representative, and I\u2019m just trying to get work done on behalf of them.”<\/p>\n

Peacocks, puppies, ponies, and pests<\/p>\n

Though the proposal on Thursday\u2019s agenda would cover all animals, not just dogs or cats, its origins were much more exotic: peafowl, which are also known as peacocks<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Alderete Gavito\u2019s Northwest Side district includes Glen Oaks and Dreamhill Estates neighborhoods, where peacocks and peahens roam in colorful flocks.<\/p>\n

In March 2024, the District 7 councilwoman filed a CCR<\/a> which asked to make San Antonio a bird sanctuary where unlicensed people would be fined for relocating birds.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorking through that CCR, we recognized that we needed to do something because we had some instances where people were trapping and relocating the peafowl to other locations,\u201d ACS Director Jon Gary said. \u201cI think some were dumped in Woodlawn Park was one of the locations that some got relocated to.”<\/p>\n

The proposal was reviewed in three PSC meetings. It appeared to have been expanded after the most recent PSC meeting in April when the committee voted to send the proposed code changes to council for a vote. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd, as I was working with our team, I realized that…we don\u2019t really even have an abandonment ordinance for any animal in San Antonio, which for a municipality our size, is kind of uncommon,\u201d Gary said. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo, I started \u2014 we ended up doing was approaching…the councilwoman and saying, \u2018Let\u2019s not just make this about peafowl. We can actually address abandonment for all animals.\u2019”<\/p>\n

Though abandoning animals is already against state law, Gary said enforcing that when there is no harm to the animal can be difficult. <\/p>\n

The proposed municipal fines council members were expected to consider would be between $500 and $2,000 for a first offense, between $1,000 and $2,000 for a second offense and $2,000 for third offense and beyond. An ACS spokeswoman said those fines would be per animal.<\/p>\n

Those figures put the fines on par with those for ear cropping<\/a>, failing to report hitting an animal with a car<\/a> or violating dangerous dog requirements<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether that be in a parking lot, bus stop, it doesn\u2019t matter,\u201d Gary said. \u201cYou can\u2019t abandon any animal here in San Antonio.\u201d <\/p>\n

The previous city council also approved higher fines in December<\/a> for dog bites and other repeat infractions. <\/p>\n

At the Animal Defense League (ADL) of Texas, abandoned animals can be a problem, despite posted signs that say leaving them alone is against the law. <\/p>\n

On Sunday, six Chihuahua-mix puppies were left in a box at a donation station in the parking lot of its Northeast Side campus. <\/p>\n

Staff found the approximately eight-week old puppies \u201cvery hungry and extremely thirsty,\u201d said ADL of Texas Director of Marketing and Development Felicia Nino.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey could have just easily crawled out and been walking around the parking lot and possibly, you know, gone onto Nacogdoches (Road),\u201d Nino said, while holding one of the dogs, Zebra.<\/p>\n

ACS said it has found other types of abandoned animals, such as a pony left tied up at a baseball field in 2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Residents could unwittingly find themselves in violation of the ordinance, which would also cover wild animals caught in live-release traps. <\/p>\n

ACS recommends contacting licensed professionals or Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation to help with the relocation of any trapped animals. <\/p>\n

Gary said officers would also use their discretion when enforcing the fines.<\/p>\n

Policymaking power struggle<\/p>\n

Jones battled<\/a> with the council in July and August over the CCR process \u2013 one of the main ways council members propose policy \u2014 when she tried to unilaterally change how the requests are submitted. <\/p>\n

The mayor also said CCRs that \u201cdid not get across the finish line\u201d under the previous council would have to be refiled.<\/p>\n

Jones described the latter instruction as keeping in line with \u201cevery other legislative body, state, federal, et cetera\u201d and giving \u201cdue respect\u201d to the newly elected council members and their constituents to ensure support remains. <\/p>\n

CCRs can often take months, or even longer than a year, before they end up in front of the full city council for a vote. Though council members submit a general idea for a policy, the exact wording and details are designed by city staff and often first go through multiple committee meetings. <\/p>\n

Jones appeared to retreat<\/a> from her proposed changes after Teri Castillo (D5), Alderete Gavito (D7), and Marc Whyte (D10) forced an Aug. 13 council meeting<\/a> to discuss them. <\/p>\n

A memo<\/a> she sent the day after said, \u201cwe will revert to the process outlined in the CCR Ordinance.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Jones\u2019 memo did not specifically mention what would happen to CCRs that hadn\u2019t resulted in a council vote or other final action.<\/p>\n

On Aug. 26, Carroll emailed the other council chiefs of staff, \u201cRequest review the attached list of pending CCRs and advise if your Councilmember will continue to move these through the CCR process or rescind NLT (no later than) Friday, August 29, 2025.\u201d<\/p>\n

The city hall source told KSAT it appeared to be \u201cvoluntary\u201d to withdraw. Otherwise, CCRs would be able to move ahead if council members wanted them to.<\/p>\n

More recent City Hall coverage on KSAT: <\/b><\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 by KSAT – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN ANTONIO \u2013 Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones delayed a proposal this week that aimed to punish people who…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":200465,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5133],"tags":[9490,5229,3425,13239,7452,7202,7203,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-200464","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-antonio","8":"tag-acs","9":"tag-america","10":"tag-animals","11":"tag-city-hall","12":"tag-gina-ortiz-jones","13":"tag-san-antonio","14":"tag-sanantonio","15":"tag-texas","16":"tag-tx","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-united-states-of-america","19":"tag-unitedstates","20":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","21":"tag-us","22":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115147969840894054","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=200464"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200464\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/200465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=200464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=200464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=200464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}