SAN ANTONIO – 190 dogs in San Antonio are currently designated as dangerous. To keep one of these animals, Texas law requires owners to follow a strict list of safety measures—installing a secure enclosure, posting visible warning signs, fitting the dog with a special collar, and more.
Animal Care Services (ACS) is responsible for checking on whether those rules are followed. The agency has set a goal for 80 percent of owners to comply, based on staffing capacity and previous compliance rates.
But some community members say that the goal is not enough.
“It should be 100 percent,” said Raymond Najera. “If you have a dangerous dog, then you have to meet those requirements to keep them.”
Najera’s father, Ramon, was killed in a 2023 dog attack. The dogs that mauled him had already been flagged by ACS. Emergency responders had to use pickaxes to stop the attack.
“I would think 100 percent would be the goal,” Najera said.
But according to ACS, the city’s target isn’t perfection.
“100 would be hard,” ACS Director Jon Gary told us in May. “We actually set the goal at 80 percent, and we’re very proud of the fact that we’re at 82.4 now.”
That’s a major improvement from just a few years ago, when only about half of dangerous dog owners were following the rules.
An ACS spokesperson told us, “Unfortunately, there will always be non-compliant owners, and it is our continued intention to reduce that number as effectively and as quickly as possible.”
Gary says some owners are simply hard to track down.
“Sometimes it’s just a matter of us not being able to even reach the person to try and get them into compliance. They’re very good at avoiding us when they’re not in compliance,” he said.
State Senator José Menéndez says the goal of 80 percent is realistic.
“80 percent is a B if we’re in school. It’s not bad, but we can always do better,” Menéndez said. “I’d like to see 100 percent compliance. You’re never gonna get 100 percent.”
Others, like State Representative Liz Campos, argue that anything short of total compliance is unacceptable.
“I think we need to be at 110% because we’re talking about lives that are at stake here,” Campos said.
So what happens when owners don’t follow the rules?
ACS says it can’t seize a dangerous dog unless a judge orders it after a noncompliance hearing. But if owners break the law, they risk losing their pets.
When a DD dog owner is found to be out of compliance, ACS initiates direct communication to identify the cause and provide the opportunity for corrective action. This is generally investigated by collecting supportive evidence, speaking with witnesses, interviewing victims, and owners. While a good faith effort is noted, compliance with the legal requirements is mandatory, and ultimately, it is the responsibility of the DD dog owner to abide by the law’s inherent restrictions or risk losing custody of their animal.
ACS can only be awarded custody of Dangerous dogs following a judge’s order in a non-compliance hearing.
We checked in to see how Austin and Houston handle these situations, too.
In Austin, the dog is seized under a warrant if the owner isn’t complying.
In Houston, the owner can receive a Class C misdemeanor, be taken to court for a non-compliance hearing, the dog is impounded, and if things aren’t fixed, the dog is put down.
The city says it has made several changes to improve oversight:
- More follow-up visits with owners
- A new data tracking system
- Additional ACS staff
“Prior to getting the staffing, we may have done some things in the beginning, but we weren’t able to follow up,” Gary said. “Now we’re able to actually follow up and see if what we’re doing is making a difference.”
Last year, the city began a program to check in with owners whose dogs have more than one bite, as well as dangerous dog owners. It was a way to make sure they had the resources they needed and to make sure they were following regulations.
Now, a spokesperson says that the program has directly contributed to the higher rate of compliance.
Ultimately, we would like to increase compliance inspections; however, due to the increased number of affidavits ACS has received, our first priority must be addressing the initial complaint to determine if it meets the legal definition for Dangerous Dog. That, of course, allows us to start the process of holding the owner to the stronger restrictions.
When the News 4 I-Team first started asking about dangerous dog compliance last year, city officials told us they couldn’t provide historical data. At the time, tracking was done on a day-by-day, rolling basis. But the city said a new data system was in the works to help ACS monitor compliance over time.
An ACS spokesperson says they are now able to pull historical data by time periods, which will help track progress.
Resources
A dog is identified as dangerous if:
- It makes an unprovoked attack on a person that causes bodily injury. The incident will have occurred in a place other than an enclosure in which the dog was being kept and that was reasonably certain to prevent the dog from leaving the enclosure on its own.
- It commits unprovoked acts in a place other than an enclosure in which the dog was being kept and that was reasonably certain to prevent the dog from leaving the enclosure on its own and those acts cause a person to reasonably believe that the dog will attack and cause bodily injury to that person.
Dangerous Dog Requirements
The dog must be:
- licensed
- wear a special identification collar
- be kept in a secure enclosure
- be muzzled when outside
- be microchipped
- spayed/neutered
The owner must:
- purchase a $100,000 liability insurance policy
- post a special warning sign
- attend a pet ownership class
- allow an annual inspection
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