Animal Task Force Presents Findings to Council

Editor’s note: The other business handled by the San Angelo City Council on May 6 is reported in a separate article.

During the May 6 San Angelo City Council meeting, the Animal Services Task Force delivered a series of recommendations to address increasing issues with stray animals, dog bites, and enforcement challenges in the city.

“As a task force, our purpose given to us was to review the current situation of animal services in the city of San Angelo, and make recommendations for its improvements,” said Task Force Chair Allen Gilbert, who retired after serving decades as the Municipal Court Judge.

Gilbert cited data that included more than 110 pages of reports documenting loose dogs in a single week, estimating that more than 500 dogs roam loose at any given time in the city. He added that the city may have 20,000 to 30,000 animals total, with dog bites and attacks on the rise.

Assistant Police Chief Adam Scott reported that since January, San Angelo has logged 841 animal-related calls, 407 of which were classified as involving vicious animals. So far this year, 56 confirmed dog bites have been recorded. In 2023, there were 161 dog bites; in 2022, there were 173.

“Things don’t seem to be getting better,” Scott said.

The task force made a wide range of recommendations, focused on improving public safety, modernizing city ordinances, and strengthening animal welfare infrastructure. Among those was a recommendation to update city ordinances—starting with modifying the definition of “owner” to reflect a 10-day holding period instead of the current three, and removing outdated or unclear language in Section 3.01.001.

Scott said discussions with the task force focused on “making small but considerable changes that have a lasting effect on enforcement, making enforcement of ordinances more streamlined, and making recidivism in the shelter less likely.”

One of the key recommendations was to add a clear definition of “dangerous dog” to city ordinances to align with the state’s health and safety code. While microchipping is already required by ordinance, Scott emphasized that enforcement must be strengthened. He also recommended reinstating registration tags as a secondary tool, which he said would “force multiply” efforts to return animals to their owners.

The task force also called for increased collaboration with local rescue groups and organizations to help adopt-out animals. Intake at the city shelter was fully reopened in February, but members urged the city to keep intake consistently open.

Scott recommended increasing the number of Animal Services Officers from four to eight to improve enforcement capacity, particularly in cases involving dangerous dogs. He also proposed more professional development and training for officers.

To promote responsible pet ownership, the task force recommended officers should issue citations when animals are returned to owners after being picked up, and if the animal is not spayed or neutered.

Dr. Catie Morris of Prickly Pear Veterinary Hospital, another member of the task force, underscored the importance of spaying and neutering.

“Spay and neuter is the foundation to solving San Angelo’s pet overpopulation crisis,” Morris said, adding that the health benefits include longer life expectancy, lower cancer risks, and reduced roaming and aggression. “This is a solution rather than a short-time bandaid.”

The task force also recommended creating a city-sponsored voucher program to support affordable spay and neuter services, reestablishing a part-time clinic at the shelter, and providing consistent enforcement of sterilization requirements.

In terms of organizational structure, the task force proposed that the Animal Services Department report directly to the city manager. They also called for the hiring of a qualified animal services director to oversee public safety, ordinance enforcement, education programs, volunteer engagement, and grant development.

The final organizational recommendation was for the shelter to resume its own adoption responsibilities. That would include hiring an adoption coordinator, offering adoption services, and launching a foster program.

“By taking on the adoption process, the shelter becomes more than just a place for animals to sit — it becomes a place where they get a second chance at life and the joy of happy ending is observed first-hand by the shelter employees,” one speaker said during the presentation. “It’s not just a place for euthanizing an animal, but they get to see this animal go to a good home.”

City Manager Daniel Valenzuela acknowledged the significance of the work presented.

“They put a lot of work into this,” Valenzuela said. “I know that this would be wasted work if we didn’t take a look at your recommendations and say hey, ‘these really are some really good ones that we really need to make sure we consider.’ … My recommendation is as we go into the budget workshop, we start talking about the recommendations they made, we can start putting a cost and value to that.”

The council is expected to revisit the recommendations during upcoming budget discussions.