Owner of dogs involved in this week's San Antonio attack had prior ACS history

The owner of the dogs that attacked a woman Wednesday in Southwest San Antonio racked up five prior citations from Animal Care Services since 2020, according to court records obtained by the Current.

Although authorities haven't publicly identified the dogs' owner, he did tell KSAT during a Thursday interview that he's sorry about what happened.

"They're not aggressive," he told the TV station in an interview where he asked not to be identified. "They do bark. They bark at dogs. They bark at cars."

Despite that claim, ACS spokeswoman Lisa Norwood told the Current that the dog owner is well known to department personnel.

"There was prior history at this house, including a bite from several years ago," Norwood said. "This is a perfect example of an irresponsible pet owner not learning their lesson."

Records obtained from municipal court in San Antonio show that the man police identified as the dogs' owner had the following prior ACS citations:

• Violating animal limits requirements, Sept. 7, 2020
• Failure to comply with captured animal return requirements, July 15, 2021
• Failure to comply with captured animal return requirements, May 6, 2022
• Two counts of violating animal nuisance requirements, March 10, 2022

The victim of Wednesday's attack was walking along the 1900 block of West Southcross Boulevard when a group of eight roaming dogs approached, according to authorities. The woman sustained a moderate, unprovoked bite to the right calf and was treated at the scene by EMS, ACS said in a statement.

ACS took custody of five Labrador mixes purportedly involved in the attack so they could be placed in state-mandated quarantine. Norwood said the three remaining canines are still in the owner's care since they weren't directly involved.

ACS issued 32 citations to the owner for charges including having excess animals with no permit, having animals free of restraint and having pets with no proof of rabies vaccinations, department officials said.

The owner was also cited for having pets with no legally required microchips, not providing animals adequate access to water and failing to prevent a bite to a person, according to ACS.

Norwood didn't provide a total dollar amount of the proposed fines.

"Animal Care Services gives the citations, and the municipal court does the adjudication and the fines," she said.

San Antonio's latest dog attack comes as City Council mulls whether to increase ACS's budget by 13.6%. That proposed increase comes after council gave the embattled city department a 33% funding boost last year.

Despite last year's budget increase, ACS has failed to reach several of its self-imposed targets and is still only responding to 59% of critical calls, officials told council during a recent budget meeting.

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