Over the last six months, cities in the Northeast San Antonio Metrocom have impounded hundreds of animals in city-run facilities. Due to the high intake and limited space, some shelters are reaching capacity. To assist with stray and other animal issues, cities in the area are working on di erent initiatives for their shelters, including educating their communities about the bene ts of spaying and neutering their pets.
Intake*
Initiatives
Contact information
800 Community Circle Drive, Schertz 210-619-1550 www.schertz.com/270/Animal-Services
Problems: wild animals, disease Solution: vaccinations
COMMUNITY CIRCLE DR.
607 animals
SCHERTZ ANIMAL SHELTER
Hours: Mon.-Fri. 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m.-4 p.m., closed Sun.
N
JARRETT WHITENER COMMUNITY IMPACT
134 Athenian, Universal City 210-658-0700 www.universalcitytexas.gov/644/ Animal-Care-and-Control Hours: Mon.-Fri. 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Sat. 8 a.m.-3 p.m., closed Sun. 8001 Shin Oak Drive, Live Oak 210-653-9140 www.liveoaktx.net/departments/ animal-care-and-control Hours: Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m.-2 p.m., closed Sun. 108 Cibolo Drive, Bldg. 3, Cibolo 210-659-4851 www.cibolotx.gov/94/Animal-Services Hours: Mon.-Sat. 8 a.m.-5 p.m., closed Sun.
Problems: lack of capacity,
318 animals
dumping Solution: expansion
1103
CIBOLO SHELTER
N
COURTESY CITY OF CIBOLO
Problem: owners losing animals Solution: microchipping
184 animals
LIVE OAK ANIMAL SHELTER
N
JARRETT WHITENER COMMUNITY IMPACT
Problem: low number of adoptions Solution: public outreach
UNIVERSAL CITY ANIMAL CARE & CONTROL
260 animals
1604
N
COURTESY CITY OF UNIVERSAL CITY
SOURCES: CITIES OF SCHERTZ, CIBOLO, UNIVERSAL CITY, LIVE OAK COMMUNITY IMPACT
*INTAKE DATA TAKEN FROM AUGUST 2022 TO JANUARY 2023
really care about, and that is what we get stuck with,” Kinney said. Similar to Live Oak, the Univer- sal City shelter returns many pets to owners. Those that are unclaimed are then assessed for adoption. While Universal City does not have issues with being overcapacity, the shelter does assist surrounding shel- ters with animal transfers when those shelters cannot take in any more pets. In Schertz, the shelter has 72 kennels, including the quarantine and isolation kennels. Over the last six months, the shel- ter has brought in 607 domestic and wild animals. While the Schertz facility also does not have issues with capacity, impounded animals frequently have diseases or illnesses that need to be treated, Lagunas said. “On a daily basis, we have disease in our shelter,” she said. “It is con- tained, but almost every single animal that comes in here has something, whether it is worms or a skin disorder or anything.” With Schertz and Cibolo being larger
than surrounding cities and having more rural areas, there is an increased number of animals that are dumped as people do not know what to do with their animals, Cibolo Animal Services Manager Jacob Jenkins said. “We have a lot of [dumping] because we only have 12 kennels and cannot take owner surrenders at this time, but we do try to o er di erent solutions to these owners and reach out to di erent organizations to try and rehome these pets,” Jenkins said. Jenkins said the Cibolo facility was built in 2000, when the city had a pop- ulation of about 2,000 people. With a growing population of around 38,000, the 12-kennel facility is consistently full with no room for extra dogs. When the kennels are overcapacity and pet owners want to surrender ani- mals, the shelter workers contact other area shelters, including in Universal City and Schertz, to see who has space. “Right now, I have 16 dogs with only 12 kennels, so I have to get cre- ative,” Jenkins said. Cibolo Police Lt. Jan Wilkiewicz said many of the dumped animals are
due to residents encountering hard- ships and not knowing where to go to get help with an animal they can no longer care for. When shelters are at or nearing capacity, it can be more di cult for owners to hand over pets, which leads to areas such as Cibolo Creek being used as dumping grounds. “Just because people are making poor choices does not make them bad To address the problem of strays, city o cials are working to expand facilities and help educate the pub- lic on responsible animal care and pet ownership. Cibolo has the smallest facility and is in the exploratory phase of coming up with a plan to invest in and expand the shelter and animal operations. While discussions are still prelimi- nary, there is a desire in the commu- nity to make more room in the shelter, Jenkins said. Another initiative for the city is to help educate the community on people,” he said. Finding solutions
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spayed or neutered, animals that escaped their homes or yards, aban- doned pets, and wild intake. “People have unwanted litters, and they don’t know what to do with them, so they show up to the shel- ter,” Lagunas said. “I think that is the main source of the stray population In the Northeast San Antonio Met- rocom, the cities of Schertz, Cibolo, Universal City and Live Oak each have shelters where residents can adopt pets. In Live Oak, the shelter has capacity for about 24 dogs and up to 30 cats. Animal Control Supervisor Stepha- nie Kinney said the Live Oak shelter has impounded 184 animals since August with most being pets from area homes. “[An animal] is always a pet that gets put into the shelter, but it is a question of if it is a pet that is cared for, or is it a pet that people do not in this region of Texas.” Identifying the problems
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