SAN ANTONIO — There are thousands of stray dogs roaming Bexar County. Many of them could be considered dangerous, but so could some dogs with owners.
San Antonio Animal Care Services (ACS) is doing its part to register those dogs online with a new tool meant to help keep residents safe.
The dangerous dog registry went online Friday morning, and as of 4 p.m. displayed the location and information of 123 active cases of dogs that have been classified as dangerous across San Antonio.
"By active, I mean where an animal has been designated and the owner has elected to reclaim the animal and be in compliance with the state requirements to own a designated animal," said ACS Director Shannon Sims.
A dog is considered dangerous if it meets the state requirement to receive the classification after a formal investigation.
"It's essentially that animal gets loose and either bites or severely threatens (a person)," Sims said. "Or it could even just be maybe it jumped on somewhere to knock them down while free of restraint."
When community members go to the website, they can click on a specific pin which will break down the address as well as the number of dogs there classified as dangerous. You can also peruse the database via a list of addresses.
"Just like folks want to before they purchase a house or move into a house or rental property or something like that, they'll want to know possibly what's the crime rate or the registered sex offenders. This is just another tool to allow people to make those decisions as well as if you already live in a neighborhood," Sims said.
Eventually, ACS plans to put pictures of the dangerous dogs on the registry.
"So if they see that an animal matching that description running through their neighborhood, it prompts them to call 311."
Animal Care Services is running an adoption event through Dec. 17 in conjunction with the Bissell Pet Foundation. Every animal is adoptable for just $25, and the cost will include spaying, neutering and vaccination. Check out this link for all of their events.
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