SAN ANTONIO -- Controversy is brewing over whether Animal Care Services should continue the practice of trapping live cats and euthanizing them if the owners don't claim them or the cats are not adopted.

Animal activists said the practice puts family pets at risk. But the ACS director said there is a demand for the service.

"We have too many animals, and we don't have enough adoptive homes," said ACS Director Jeff Hale. "That's the basics, if you boil it down.

Under current policy, ACS loans live traps to residents. Once the cats are trapped, they are delivered to ACS, where they await to be picked up by their owners. If nobody claims the cat and it's not adopted, it will be euthanized.

Animal activist Lynn Cuny runs the Wildlife Animal Sanctuary and is asking the city to stop allowing trapped cats to be euthzanized.

"A lot of times, it's a neighbor-to-neighbor dispute, and somebody's perfectly healthy, homed, well-loved cat is walking into a trap because there is a can of tuna in (a trap) and the neighbor happens to be angry at the other neighbor. So, the animal ends up at animal control and (then is) killed," Cuny said.

While ACS is reviews the policy, Cuny has asked to take over the cat-related calls coming into the city.

"I was never called back after that initial conversation. We were never taken up on our offer," she said.

Anger over the policy is now venting through a Web site calling for tourists to boycott San Antonio until its policy is changed. But ACS said the stray cat population is overwhelming.

"It would be a reduction in service, and there is a demand -- and that's the problem. There are just too many (cats) out there," Hale said.

Hale said instead of criticism, what they really need are volunteers at the shelter. To donate time, call the shelter at 210-207-6666.