San Antonio registry shows homes with six dangerous/agg dogs, raising enforcement concerns

San Antonio registry shows homes with six dangerous/agg dogs, raising enforcement concerns by Jordan Elder , Photojournalist Blake McCarty Mon, November 9, 2026 at 10:00 PM Updated Mon, November 9, 2026 at 10:23 PM 6 VIEW ALL PHOTOS San Antonio’s public registry lists six aggressive dogs at one address and six dangerous dogs at another—more than the five dogs generally allowed at a home without an excess-animal permit. Comment on this story 0 Comment Share story Share topics: San Antonio Animal Care Services Dangerous dogs Aggressive dogs Excess-animal permits Animal ordinance Marina Alderete Gavito News 4 I-Team San Antonio’s public registry lists six aggressive dogs at one address and six dangerous dogs at another—more than the five dogs generally allowed at a home without an excess-animal permit. Neither address appears in permit records reviewed by the News 4 I-Team, raising questions about how Animal Care Services enforces the limit. How excess-animal permits work San Antonio generally allows up to five dogs at a home, with no more than eight cats and dogs combined. An excess-animal permit can authorize a household to exceed those limits for one year. ACS considers whether an owner can provide proper care and whether the property can accommodate the animals. A review of city permit records from the past year found 13 addresses with excess-animal permits listing canines. None matched the dangerous dog registry addresses reviewed for this story. The permit records list animal types but do not show how many dogs each permit authorizes. San Antonio’s dangerous dog registry raises questions about animal-limit enforcement The registry showed four addresses with six dogs listed in September: one with six aggressive dogs and three with six dangerous dogs. By November, two addresses still showed six dogs listed—one aggressive and one dangerous. Councilwoman Marina Alderete Gavito said the number of dangerous dogs at some homes deserves attention. “I think that this instance of having an excess amount of dangerous dogs is something that we should look at. You know, who wants to live next to somebody with an excess amount of dangerous dogs?” Gavito said. ACS says the cases involve separate compliance issues We asked ACS how these homes are able to have six dogs listed on the registry and what the department can do about it. “Those locations would not be approved for an excess animal permit. The dangerous and excess permits are separate compliance issues," ACS Lt. Christie Banduch said. Banduch said ACS can issue citations when an owner does not comply with city ordinances, like the number of animals owned, but ACS cannot take custody of animals solely because a household has more than five. “If there are excess animals, that's not something that we can go in and confiscate animals for. We can issue citations to owners if they're not in compliance, try to work with them to get into compliance..." she explained. San Antonio’s dangerous dog registry raises questions about animal-limit enforcement ACS told the News 4 I-Team the owner of the address with six aggressive dogs received criminal citations for excess animals and noncompliance with the city’s aggressive dog ordinance. Those citations are now in the court process. At the Penrose address with six dogs listed as dangerous, ACS said the owner has compliance and permit applications underway, and inspections are pending. When we asked what happened with the other addresses that previously showed six dangerous dogs, Banduch said the registry likely updated. San Antonio’s dangerous dog registry raises questions about animal-limit enforcement “When you're looking at something, it's a snapshot in time. So sometimes we have owners that will voluntarily decide that they need to reduce the number of animals. Sometimes there's a court order,” Banduch said. The city does allow owners to have more than one dangerous or aggressive dog at their address, as long as they keep in compliance with state law. The registry currently shows more than 30 San Antonio addresses with multiple dogs classified as dangerous. If officials wanted to make it easier to enforce animal limits on homes with dangerous and aggressive dogs, Gavito says those changes would likely have to come from the state. She said she is more hopeful lawmakers will address dangerous dog issues after the recent election. In the past two legislative sessions, regulations for dangerous dog owners and new attempts to make it easier to report dangerous animals have stalled. “With a fresh administration, we're gonna be coming back with different ideas that we have on really attacking the dangerous dog problem here in San Antonio," Gavito said. 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