SAN ANTONIO – District 2 has been known for its loose dog problem in the past, but there have been improvements. That's because Animal Care Services has been pouring resources into the East Side for the last two years.
Aside from deploying frequent sweeps in District 2 to pick up loose dogs, ACS also has an officer specifically working District 2.
"They're like a beat cop," said Shannon Sims, ACS chief field operations officer. "They really kind of see this day to day. They know all the incidents. They know the struggles. They know some of the problems in the neighborhood."
Sims said over the last two years, there has been a 30 percent increase in the number of loose animals they've picked up in the area and a 300 percent increase in the animals that are picked up and owned being returned to their owners.
Councilman Alan Warrick at an East Side meeting Wednesday encouraged the crowd to first call 311, but if they have trouble getting issues with animals resolved to call his office at 210-207-0950.
"We want to know when they are calling 311, so we can track their calls and so we can make sure the entire session is being responded to in a timely matter," Warrick said.
"We take all of these calls and map them. When I send my sweeps teams out, we know where those high-incident areas are," Sims said. "We can focus our efforts where the largest problems are."
Even with all the efforts of the city, Sims said without owners exercising responsible pet ownership, the city will continue to see loose dogs.