Bexar County Commissioners made a last-minute decision Tuesday to double the capacity of a new animal shelter the county is building on its Southwest Side, from 48 kennels to 96 kennels.
The county plans to open the new shelter on Cagnon Road in fall of 2025, and continue operating its 60-kennel facility on the Northeast Side, in the city of Kirby, which County Manager David Smith said is already over capacity.
Plans for the new facility could grow even larger before it’s actually built, as the county struggles to keep up with the area’s unusually large stray and roaming dog population.
Commissioners approved the expanded design on a 4-1 vote Tuesday, after considerable grumbling about the price. The county had already approved $5.5 million to build the new facility in its fiscal year 2022 budget, but the additions brought the price to $8.8 million.
“The Kirby facility has double the number of dogs as capacity,” Smith warned commissioners ahead of the vote. “I wouldn’t recommend just doing the base project because it will be over capacity the day we open.”
Heeding that advice, Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai directed county staff to bring back a plan to expand the new shelter event further — to 148 dog kennels. (Cats are housed in a different enclosure at both facilities.)
Consternation over shelter space comes amid a string of deadly dog maulings, which caused the City of San Antonio to pour additional funds into animal control operations in its most recent budget.
While most of the city’s enhanced animal care services have been aimed at increasing the number of animal control officers, Bexar County Public Health Director Andrea Guerrero-Guajardo said the county is going a different direction with its efforts.
Her department oversees the county’s animal services and is focused on taking a public health approach to the problem of stray animals, she said.
The new shelter will expand the county’s spay, neuter and microchipping capacity, and partner with Palo Alto College to provide vet tech interns. It will also facilitate plans to grow the county’s foster and adoption work.
Commissioner Rebeca Clay-Flores (Pct. 1), who supported the new facility in her precinct, said it would offer opportunities to contract with other municipalities within the county that want to offer shelter services but can’t afford to do so on their own.
