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San Angelo task force urges expanded enforcement, spay/neuter push to reduce roaming dogs
Summary
A volunteer task force recommended doubling animal control officers, stricter enforcement of spay-and-neuter and microchip rules, open shelter intake and creation of a full-time animal services director; city staff were asked to cost the recommendations for upcoming budget workshops.
A volunteer animal services task force told the San Angelo City Council on May 6 that the city faces a public-safety and animal-welfare crisis and urged a suite of enforcement, programmatic and staffing changes to reduce roaming dogs and shelter intake pressures.
The task force’s chair, Judge Alan Gilbert, said the group spent hundreds of hours reviewing ordinances, city operations and field conditions and found widespread stray animals, repeated shelter intake and rising dog-bite complaints. “We reviewed city ordinances… sentence by sentence,” Gilbert said. “This committee knows what they’re talking about.”
The panel’s recommendations centered on public safety and population control. Assistant Chief Adam Scott of the San Angelo Police Department told council staff had received about 841 animal-related calls for service since January and that 407 of those had been logged as vicious-animal incidents. He recommended clarifying the city’s definition of a “dangerous dog” to align with the Texas Health and Safety Code §822.041 so enforcement is more straightforward. “Adding a dangerous-dog definition to our ordinances will make enforcement more specific and effective,” Scott said.
Veterinarian Dr. Katie Morris, a task-force member, emphasized spay-and-neuter as the long‑term solution. She proposed extending the city’s current sterilization deadline from 4 to 6 months of age to increase compliance and urged stronger, consistent enforcement of the existing ordinance. “You can’t kill or adopt your way out of overpopulation. Prevention is the key,” Dr. Morris said.
Other proposals included doubling the number of Animal Services Officers from four to eight to expand field enforcement and reduce recidivism, more professional training for officers, improved microchip and tag enforcement, a city-managed pet registration database, increased cooperation with local rescues for intake and fostering, and a part-time or permanent clinic for sterilization services at or coordinated with the shelter.
Several speakers also urged that shelter intake remain open. Sharon Hoffman, who runs local spay/neuter voucher programs, and a task-force member who worked at the facility described the consequences of keeping intake closed or limited: injured, emaciated or abused animals left in the field and fewer opportunities to reunite pets with owners. “Intakes must remain open for community safety and viable pet adoption,” Hoffman said.
The task force did not ask council for an immediate ordinance change at the meeting. Instead City Manager Daniel Valenzuela said staff would bring cost estimates for the proposals into the upcoming budget workshops so council could consider funding increases and structural changes. “My recommendation is as we go into the budget workshop, we start putting a cost to that,” Valenzuela told the council.
Task-force members also recommended creating a dedicated, professional animal services director position reporting to the city manager, updating job descriptions, buying new shelter software, and strengthening follow-up for issued citations so enforcement leads to compliance.
The task force panel included rescue volunteers, veterinarians, shelter volunteers and law enforcement; members told the council they had logged more than 370 hours researching local conditions and interviewing affected residents and organizations.
Councilmembers asked for a follow-up session and for staff to assemble the task force’s written packet, ordinance edits and job‑description proposals for the budget meetings. No vote to adopt ordinances or hire staff was taken at the meeting; the council directed staff to cost the recommendations and return with budget options.
Ending: Councilmembers repeatedly framed the recommendations as a multi-year effort requiring program design, staff increases and funding; the task force said consistent spay/neuter enforcement, expanded field capacity and open intake are the immediate priorities for public safety and animal welfare.
