San Antonio Launches Public Registry Mapping Dangerous Dogs After Fatal Attacks

San Antonio's Animal Care Services launched a public online registry on Dec. 1, 2023, mapping the addresses of dogs that the city has formally designated as dangerous. The tool allows the public to see addresses where designated dangerous dogs live and how many are at each location. At launch, the map listed 123 registered dangerous dogs in San Antonio, searchable by neighborhood or City Council district. The release of the registry, first reported by Axios San Antonio, marks a shift in how the city communicates animal-threat information to residents ^[1].

The registry became possible only after a legal threshold was cleared. Animal Care Services said it was able to share the registry following a recent opinion from the Texas attorney general's office in response to an open records case, which permitted the public release of dangerous-dog location data. According to an ACS news release, the registry "comes after a recent Attorney General ruling that allows Animal Care Services to release information regarding the location's dangerous dogs." Prior to that ruling, News 4 SA had reported that its journalists requested dangerous-dog locations under the Texas Public Information Act but were initially denied by the city. ACS Director Shannon Sims said the agency will not publish personal identifying information about dog owners, citing privacy and the absence of a criminal conviction attached to a "dangerous dog" designation ^[2].

The registry's debut follows a year of high-profile canine attacks that placed Animal Care Services under public and political scrutiny. The city-run animal shelter faced criticism after at least two deadly dog attacks, one in February and another in the fall of 2023. The February incident proved the most legally consequential. Dogs owned by Christian Moreno and Abilene Schnieder attacked and killed an 81-year-old man while the victim and his wife were running errands in San Antonio; the owners were later sentenced to more than a decade in prison each by a Bexar County judge. A victim in a separate high-profile attack survived but underwent 14 surgeries and lost both legs, according to the San Antonio Express-News.

The February attack also exposed gaps in the city's prior response to reported concerns. In the nearly three years before the attack, neighbors had called 911 on the dog owner's address 114 times and contacted 311 an additional 42 times, according to a March 2023 memo from City Manager Erik Walsh to the City Council. Walsh wrote that the city would pursue a "Good Neighbor Program" targeting properties generating high volumes of emergency calls, and directed ACS to begin citing unrestrained-dog violations criminally rather than civilly ^[3]. The February attack's dogs were later confirmed to have been involved in prior incidents, a fact that the defense in the subsequent criminal case argued should have prompted the city to act sooner ^[2].

ACS Director Shannon Sims framed the registry as a proactive public-safety instrument. "The City of San Antonio's Dangerous Dog Registry allows us to keep our community informed and safe," Sims said, adding that ACS had worked to increase the number of Animal Care Officers over the past year and that the registry is part of the department's broader strategic plan. Residents seeking to report a dangerous dog may call 311 or contact the department through the city's website at SA.gov/ACS ^[1].

References

[1] Axios San Antonio. (2023, December 4). San Antonio's Animal Care Services shares dangerous dog map after attacks. https://www.axios.com/local/san-antonio/2023/12/04/dangerous-dogs-attack-map-animal-care-services

[2] News 4 San Antonio. (2023, December 5). San Antonio launches map of dangerous dogs after I-Team investigation. https://news4sanantonio.com/news/trouble-shooters/san-antonio-launches-map-of-dangerous-dogs-after-i-team-investigation

[3] Axios San Antonio. (2023, March 15). After deadly dog attack, San Antonio wants to crack down on homes with frequent calls. https://www.axios.com/local/san-antonio/2023/03/15/san-antonio-changes-fatal-dog-attack