Background

San Antonio is a city of approximately 1.4 million people. It is the proud home to the historic Alamo, the NBA team the Spurs, multiple military bases, and to the River Walk, the number one tourist destination in Texas and the fourteenth most popular destination in the country. And it’s a city that kills tens of thousands of animals each year.

In 2004, reporters from the San Antonio Express News spent over 50 hours at the city’s Animal Care facility, where gas chambers were used to kill nearly 50,000 animals a year – that’s nine out of ten animals that were killed, some within an hour of arrival. The article that resulted from this investigation, Death by the Pound: San Antonio Faces a Grim Reality, revealed the complacency and outdated policies of the city facility, and a 2005 NPR piece further detailed the desperate situation in San Antonio.

A few years after this article was published, a new Animal Care Services complex replaced the old facility and the practice of using gas chambers was abandoned. Since then, animals at the city facility have been killed by lethal injection.

In 2006, San Antonio announced a goal to become a no-kill city by 2012. Achieving no-kill status requires the support of the community and a comprehensive approach that includes foster programs, high volume/low-cost spay and neuter programs, effective adoption programs, volunteer program, Trap Neuter Return (TNR) programs for feral cats, and more.

In 2009, 30% of animals impounded at Animal Care Services left the facility alive, up from 12.5% in 2006. San Antonio is making progress, thanks to new efforts by Animal Care Services and the support of local rescue organizations and community volunteers. But for the 70% of the animals who are still killed, like Shadow and Jasmine, it’s not progress enough.

The more people who get involved, the more animals we can save. Learn how you can help.