free newsletter at elpasomatters.org<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\nNow, on to the show.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Elida, thanks for joining me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Elida Perez: Thanks for having me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Diego: So, can you just give us an overview of the situation with the Animal Services Department, this apparent disagreement over cost for service between the city and municipalities and what\u2019s going on? What\u2019s owed to the city? Just give us a breakdown here.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Elida: Yes, so, a couple of weeks ago when the city started to have its budget discussions and budget sessions, it was brought up when Animal Services was talking about what they do that their was some outstanding payments from a couple of municipalities, including the county, totaling about \u2013 well, for the county specifically, about $1.5 million.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So, obviously, that raised a few questions. And looking into it further, we come to find that the city has multiple interlocal agreements with other small municipalities around the city that don\u2019t have their own animal services shelter, don\u2019t have the capacity to be able to address some of those issues. So, they partner with the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Animals will be taken to the city shelter, wherein the city will then charge, through invoices, those municipalities for each animal that they take in and a daily fee, for example.<\/p>\n
What started to happen was, for the agreement that kicked in 2024, those prices went up. And, so, some of these smaller municipalities got their \u2013 for lack of a better word, kind of a sticker shock, and started to really take a closer look at what they were being charged for, what animals they were being charged for.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Diego: What kind of bills were the towns facing?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Elida: Well, the county, turns out, hadn\u2019t paid the city in a little more than a year, a little over a year, as well as Horizon also stopped paying for a little more than a year. Basically, when they started to get those much higher invoice costs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So, we\u2019re talking about $22,000, $27,000 a month, up from around $8,000 or so. From what I understand, when they saw those higher costs, they were taking a closer look, kind of going through things with a finer-tooth comb, if you will, to make sure that the animal that is being charged to the county actually is from the county, not maybe from San Elizario, but being logged as a county animal and being charged in that way. Does that make sense?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Diego: Yeah. So, it\u2019s all about the origin of the animal and that\u2019s who pays the cost to have them rounded up and put in the shelter?<\/p>\n
Elida: Yes. So, that\u2019s what also was happening with Horizon. Based on the ZIP code or where the address is, it may on paper look like it\u2019s Horizon City, but they\u2019re not within the city limits. But some of those animals were being charged to the city of Horizon, not those that were in the county unincorporated area, but it\u2019s also called Horizon. So, it\u2019s kind of a tricky little detail there.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But that\u2019s kind of where everybody started to kind of take a look at it like, \u201cWait a minute, this is a very high increase in our monthly costs and impact to our budget. So, we\u2019re going to have to take a closer look before we pay\u201d is what a couple of the municipalities did.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Diego: Yeah. Which seems like a difficult problem because you\u2019ve just got sort of animals roaming around and how do you know where they\u2019re from or sort of assign a place of origin for them? It seems kind of a thorny issue.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Elida: Indeed. Yes. Particularly the San Elizario mayor mentioned that a dog doesn\u2019t know what \u2013 they don\u2019t know boundaries. If they\u2019re walking up the street or down the street and get picked up along a street that is adjacent to their city limits, then should they be charged for that animal?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Diego: Yeah, sure.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Elida: So, it is, it\u2019s very tricky.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Diego: So, we\u2019ll come back to this.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But one question I had that stood out to me from your story was that the shelter in El Paso for animals has seen a really big increase in the number of animals there that they take in. And, so \u2013 and in a short period of time, too, in the last three or four years.<\/p>\n
I just wonder if you could speak to the magnitude of that increase? And maybe the \u201cwhy\u201d behind that is hard to know, but how much of an increase are we talking in the number of animals staying at the shelter?\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1784669332_306_CB_AnimalServices-1.jpg\")
The city of El Paso Animal Services main campus at 5001 Fred Wilson Ave. can house about 370 dogs and 225 cats. The number of in-takes at the animal shelter continues to grow. (Corrie Boudreaux \/ El Paso Matters)<\/p>\n
Elida: So, the number of animals, at least from outside of the city limits \u2013 so, these animals coming in from the outside municipalities, which is kind of the issue here, has increased about 37% over the last three years and is pretty much on pace to increase another 16% this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The specific reason I think is an issue for everybody in the city, whether it\u2019s people not spay and neutering animals, whether it\u2019s strays out there that were never spayed or neutered that are out there reproducing, and the problem just gets exacerbated when they\u2019re out there, left to their own devices, if you will.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I think it\u2019s an ongoing issue that it\u2019s really hard to pinpoint the exact \u201cwhy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
DIego: Yeah. And you would think that, like, the population hasn\u2019t increased so much that would drive that much of an increase in strays. So, obviously there\u2019s some other factor. But, anyways, it was just an interesting, interesting trend, I guess, of a pretty large increase, right, of over a third.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One thing, too, Elida that I wanted to talk about is like the shelter isn\u2019t the sole provider of animal services, right? It\u2019s the city\u2019s relying on fosters as well to provide that service, which just strikes me as a little bit of a kind of odd dynamic kind of relying on people in the community to take people in or take animals in.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I just wonder if you could speak to that and just sort of the dynamic at play here where the shelter is not the only provider of these animal services and the city is really telling people like, \u201cHey, if you find an animal, go ahead and foster it.\u201d Is that fair to say?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Elida: So, they have the fostering program. And if you think about it, it\u2019s a great idea to help get animals acclimated to being in a home environment. They\u2019ll probably be extremely less stressed than in a shelter environment, like being in those kennels and, sometimes packed in with other animals.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The socialization declines for a lot of animals that are kept in those conditions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So, the foster program allows animals that would otherwise have been in the shelter for unknown periods of time to acclimate to a home environment or back to a home environment if they had been in the shelter for however long.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I think the strange thing about that or where there could be problems is making sure that they keep track of all those animals. And is the foster going to then adopt the animal? Is it a fostering situation where they\u2019re just keeping the animal until somebody sees the picture on the animal website and decides, \u201cHey, I want to foster that particular dog.\u201d<\/p>\n
Because I think that some, I think they periodically lose contact with some of the people that have these animals. And, so, there\u2019s kind of an unknown outcome of those dogs. So, they\u2019ve talked about that a couple of times at the Animal Service Advisory Committee meetings. That question comes up quite a bit, actually.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But, overall, you can see where it would be beneficial to the animals that would otherwise be stuck in the shelter. Whether it\u2019s a flawless system is a good question that I don\u2019t think has been answered.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Diego: Yeah. And it reminds me of my own experience where my wife showed up with a cat a couple of years ago that was from the shelter, Nova, we love her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I wasn\u2019t given a forewarning about that one, but my wife scooped her up from the shelter. I think she\u2019d been there for quite some time. But, to your point about the socialization and maybe some better outcomes from fostering, (one of) our cats has kind of got some health issues that we think arose from a pretty lengthy stay in the shelter. So, anyways, I could see how that, there\u2019d be a benefit there, the fostering system. It just seems like it\u2019s, it puts a lot in the community, right? But, there\u2019s only so much the city can do, I suppose.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Elida: Well, and the thing \u2013 I guess the other thing about that is that, I mean, the fosters are volunteers. It\u2019s not like the city came and dropped a cat off with your house. Sure. So, you can see also where that did work in this little kitten\u2019s outcome, Aubrey, she saw the kitten, she was like, \u201cLet\u2019s do the right thing, let\u2019s give this little guy a chance.\u201d and now happy home, I would think.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Diego: For the most part, yeah.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So, moving on, though, Elida, just to speak of the shelter capacity. So, the county is building its own shelter, right, which I\u2019d almost forgotten about. And, so, I wonder, can you just talk about that? Where\u2019s the money going to come from? How much is that going to cost? And I\u2019ve got a follow-up, but just tell us some details about this county shelter and how that\u2019s coming together?<\/p>\n
Elida: So, voters in November 2024 approved, through a bond proposal, the animal shelter for the county.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That shelter is going to have room for, let\u2019s see, about 290 dogs and 100 cats once it\u2019s operational. Thing is, it\u2019s barely in the design phase. And, so, it will be a few more years before it\u2019s up and running and ready to take in those animals. It will prioritize the county and unincorporated areas of the county.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So, while it will make a significant difference for those areas, there\u2019s still going to be a problem of strays out in the streets and overpopulation.<\/p>\n
Diego: What\u2019s the cost of the facility?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Elida: It\u2019s going to be about $33 million.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Diego: OK, so pretty big investment. But that was my sort of follow-up question. You kind of answered it, but it seems like that\u2019s the perfect sort of thing that would solve this problem, right, of these stray animals out in the unincorporated parts of the county. And \u201cHey, we\u2019ve got this new shelter. Can it absorb all of these strays that we\u2019re talking about that these municipalities are being charged care for?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
But it sounds like you\u2019re not optimistic that this is just going to be the silver bullet to solve the issue of strays in El Paso County.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Elida: I\u2019m always optimistic when it comes to those little animals. Will it completely solve the problem? I don\u2019t think so. I think that so much needs to change with the way the community as a whole, not only the city, but the county and the unincorporated areas, deal with animals and pets that should be treated as pets, not just, something outside in the backyard.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Animals escape. They get abandoned in the desert. Those animals are generally not fixed, so they reproduce and just exacerbate the problem. So, until there\u2019s a larger effort by everybody involved to stop those behaviors, then you\u2019ll be able to see some better outcomes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But this, what the county is doing, it\u2019s going to make a significant difference, particularly for that area. It would be great if all the other little municipalities and stuff had the finances and the capacity to be able to do the same, then you might see then you might see some better outcomes. But for now, it\u2019s still going to be an ongoing work in progress.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Diego: It sounds like what you\u2019re saying is greater personal responsibility among El Pasoans as it relates to their pets is part of the solution, at least in the city\u2019s eyes?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Elida: I would say yes. I\u2019m not ashamed to say there definitely has to be some better personal responsibility from people that are pet owners.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Diego: Yeah. To your point about the municipalities not always having the funds to put together their own shelter or whatever to address the problem of stray animals, you identified two municipalities that are in pretty good shape with this issue, and they\u2019re not facing these really massive bills like other communities like San Elizario are for animal services that could maybe bankrupt them, right, if they were to pay it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But the ones that seem to be doing well are Anthony and Socorro. And, so, I just wonder, can you talk about how are they avoiding this issue of facing tripled bills for animal services from the city of El Paso?\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1784669332_842_Animal-Control-FB2.jpg\")
Among other things, the Animal Protection Field Operations program of the city\u2019s Animal Services is charged with investigating animal bites and safety concerns. (Courtesy Animal Services)<\/p>\n
Elida: Yeah. So, Anthony, Texas, a couple of years ago, when the increase in costs for services through the agreement with the city kicked in, about that same time, they were able to hire an animal control officer. So, what that did was it put a specific person, a law enforcement officer, to be able to handle calls for service in that community. They also help Vinton out a bit.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So, if there\u2019s a stray dog or if they have to investigate something, that animal control officer is responsible for keeping track of everything. And, so, that individual also is the one that, if necessary, will take an animal to the city shelter. Because, while they were able to get an animal control officer, they still don\u2019t have the capacity of building and managing their own animal shelter. So, they do still work with the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The difference with them is that because they have that one individual and the area isn\u2019t as large as, say, El Paso County, where one person can actually manage it and has been managing it, they take a close look at the invoices. Like, \u201cYes, these are all our animals.\u201d If there\u2019s a discrepancy, like, \u201cNo, this animal didn\u2019t come from our territory.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then they\u2019re able to quickly resolve it with the city and the city works with them. The city works with \u2013 tries to work with everybody to, if there\u2019s a discrepancy or something, they\u2019ve said that they work with everybody to come to a resolution and make adjustments as necessary. But, so, that\u2019s what they started to do.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And the city of Socorro also does something similar where they have an animal control division, if you will, that does very similar (tasks). So, they\u2019re responding to those calls for services, investigating animal cruelty cases, things like that. If an animal in the city of Socorro also needs to go to the city shelter, then they\u2019re the point of contact. So, they also are keeping close track in that sense.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So, that particular law enforcement officer or the Police Department animal control folks are the ones that are really monitoring that to make sure that what they are being charged is accurate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Diego: Do you think that\u2019s the solution for other municipalities? Like, you identified San Elizario in particular in your story. I mean, is that instructive for, \u201cHey, maybe you other guys should also hire your own animal services person.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Elida: I don\u2019t think it would hurt. But the question is, do they have the funding? From what the mayor of San Elizario said, is they have a very small budget compared to some of the other smaller municipalities. So, I think they\u2019re looking at about a two million annual budget.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Diego: Facing about $20,000 a month, is that right, in animal services bills?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Elida: Yeah, it\u2019s starting to get up there. So, I think he said that, over the last two years, about 10% of that budget has gone to that particular service. So, in a place, in a town so small or an area so small like that, that\u2019s a big chunk of their budget. So, do they have the financial means to hire a specific animal control officer?\u00a0<\/p>\n
The county has agreements with some of those other smaller municipalities for animal control services. So, it\u2019s kind of one of those things where if there were more animal control officers that could serve these smaller areas, then that could probably also help as well. But I think the challenge is becoming more financial in nature. And everybody knows the cost of everything is going up. And I think everybody\u2019s in kind of that situation where it\u2019s like, \u201cWhat can we afford to do here?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Diego: And that\u2019s really \u2013 I should have asked this earlier, but the reason that the costs or what the city is charging these municipalities for animal services, the reason that\u2019s going up is because the city is saying, \u201cLook, it\u2019s more expensive for our veterinary care or things like that,\u201d right? That\u2019s what the city\u2019s saying, that, \u201cHey, we\u2019re charging you guys more because our cost of service is more.\u201d Is that fair?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Elida: Yes, I mean, that\u2019s exactly what they said was the reason to have to restructure the cost in the agreements. Because veterinary care, sheltering, medicine, everything has gone up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And in the prior \u2013 the way it was structured before, there was a fee for the impound. So, each animal taken in, you get charged. And then there was a daily fee, but it wouldn\u2019t go past six days.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This updated cost structure has an increased cost to the impound, to the intake fee. And then there\u2019s a daily fee that also went up a little bit, but it\u2019s per day that they are held. So, they don\u2019t cap it at six days anymore. If the animal is there for three months, then you\u2019re getting that daily charge for that full time. So, that\u2019s where a lot of the cost increase went up as well, as far as what they\u2019re looking at on their bills.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Diego: And, so, if a community says, for example, San Elizario or any other municipality, right, that\u2019s part of these inter-local agreements, if they say, \u201cHey, our budget simply does not give us the flexibility to afford these bills, City of El Paso, we\u2019re not going to pay you.\u201d I don\u2019t know \u2013 I suppose they could cancel the inter-local agreement, whatever. The point being they can\u2019t afford the services. So, then what happens?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Elida: Unfortunately, what would happen is that the city would \u2013 so they would care for the animals that were already there throughout the end of the agreement, right? So, let\u2019s say my agreement is set to end in September, September 1, I think.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So, a municipality says, \u201cI want out, we\u2019re not going to renew, we\u2019re going to cancel this agreement.\u201d So, whichever animals they had taken in up to that date, they continue to care for those animals and make sure that they get adopted out or transferred to another rescue or all those general things that they do to try to find homes for animals and things of that nature, like fostering perhaps or whatever is necessary.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But, come the end of that agreement date, then the city would no longer accept animals from that municipality, which if the municipality doesn\u2019t have an animal shelter or any other means to care for those animals, I mean, you might see a situation where there\u2019s an increase in strays in the streets or other area rescues might get overwhelmed with people that, say, \u201cI can\u2019t take this animal to the shelter. Can I bring it here?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
So, there could really be a potential increase in stray animals in those areas.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Diego: So, it\u2019s fairly high stakes, right?<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/CB_AlbertonLitter11.jpg\")
A stray dog wanders among the tires that litter the desert around Alberton Avenue in Horizon City, May 31, 2026. (Corrie Boudreaux\/El Paso Matters)<\/p>\n
Elida: It could exacerbate the issue that is already existent. We talk about this already big increase in animals going in. Part of that is because there\u2019s so many animals out there that are already just dropped off that are not spayed or neutered and they\u2019re just reproducing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So, it\u2019s already challenging to handle that. So you imagine just putting another crack in the wall to let the water go through and it\u2019s just going to create more of the same problems.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Diego: Based on your reporting throughout this story, I wonder, do you think that this issue exposes a rift between any local governments, right? Whether it\u2019s the county and the city or any of the little municipalities and the city?\u00a0<\/p>\n
And I ask that because I think Betsy Keller, who\u2019s a county administrator, she had a pretty interesting quote in your story saying, like, \u201cWe want to figure this out because it doesn\u2019t really do anybody any good to have that scenario you\u2019re laying out where there\u2019s no provision of animal services in an area.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
But I feel like at the same time, the City Council Representative Chris Canales, was kind of like, \u201cLook, we\u2019re owed this money for providing the service.\u201d And, so, I just wonder does this expose maybe a little bit of discord between our local governments?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Elida: I wouldn\u2019t completely rule that out, but I also \u2013 it\u2019s kind of like, you can see both sides of it, right?\u00a0<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re in the position of the city, you\u2019re like, \u201cWell, this is how much it\u2019s costing us, and we\u2019re not even recovering the full cost of taking care of these animals.\u201d And in talking to them, you can see that they\u2019re like, \u201cWell, we\u2019re not going to not provide the services.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
So, it\u2019s like, it\u2019s in everybody\u2019s best interest to work together. What makes 100% sense for everybody might look a little different. Where one municipality is under stress because \u201cI don\u2019t think we can afford this anymore. What do we do? We need help.\u201d But, so, it\u2019s kind of like they\u2019re in between a rock and a hard place. I would say more than like a rift. I would say it\u2019s more like how do we deal with this? Because you have to do A, B and C, and we have to do A, B and C, but the numbers aren\u2019t jiving,\u00a0<\/p>\n
Diego: It kind of strikes me as a somewhat odd problem because like these animals all exist in the same area that is El Paso, right? But it\u2019s, like, we\u2019re trying to figure out what is the exact place that this animal is coming from and how do you assign the cost?\u00a0<\/p>\n
As opposed to \u2013 it feels like this issue we could solve collectively, but there\u2019s this kind of challenge of these jurisdictions and figuring that out. Which, I wonder, I mean, I don\u2019t know if there\u2019s any clarity on this, do you know how they even can tell where a stray animal comes from? Is it just if it\u2019s microchipped or something like that?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Elida: Well, so if it\u2019s an animal control officer picking up a dog, then I think it would depend on where the officer logs where the animal came from, which could potentially create the, well, that dog doesn\u2019t belong in my jurisdiction.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
But Horizon\u2019s got an interesting situation because of the way the ZIP codes are. If a person has Horizon City, Texas on their driver\u2019s license address and takes and drops a dog off, but they\u2019re not within the city limits, that dog might accidentally be invoiced to the city of Horizon, even though that individual doesn\u2019t live in the city limits.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So, that\u2019s what they were kind of saying. So, it\u2019s a matter of like, where are you from, little dog? Like the little dog doesn\u2019t know where they\u2019re from. And I think sometimes there\u2019s these blurred lines of the boundaries of the \u2013 and I can\u2019t speak to how closely animal services staff, for example, I\u2019m sure that they see the address, they log the address, and, I don\u2019t think there\u2019s anything nefarious there. So, it\u2019s tricky.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Diego: Sure. And just last question here, Elida. I appreciate your time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So, I just wonder if you can speak to what\u2019s next in this situation? And one thing we should have mentioned, like the county has paid up some of that $1.5 million you identified, right? Which is a really, really big bill, right?\u00a0<\/p>\n
But they have paid up some of it after auditing this and saying, \u201cOk, yes, this animal is from unincorporated area of the county. That is our responsibility.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
So, it seems like these audits will continue and maybe these municipalities will pay some amount to the city in the near future. Maybe I\u2019m wrong on that. I just wonder what you see as the next steps as it relates to this kind of impasse of like who pays for these services and how much and so forth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Elida: Yeah, excuse me. So, the county is, I would say, paid a large portion of it, definitely more than half, $900-something thousand while they take a look at the remaining details. And I think from there, they\u2019ll work with the city or they\u2019ll go back and forth with the city on like, \u201cOK, this is what we saw, can we work out how the rest or remainder gets paid or?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
But they are definitely making those moves to address that, address those services that were provided that they were able to confirm, right? Horizon has also said they\u2019re getting close to wrapping up. They said they have the money to pay, but they just wanted to make sure that they\u2019re paying for what they need to be paying for and no more because they also, I mean, they don\u2019t have city budget dollars or the county also has a larger budget.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I think those smaller municipalities have to be a little or are being a little more cautious just to make sure \u2013 I\u2019ve been using this example of it\u2019s like when you have a monthly bill for a service and it\u2019s like $70 a month and then out of nowhere it\u2019s like $150 and maybe you don\u2019t think too much about it the first time but then it is $150 consistently and starts to climb up, then suddenly you\u2019re like taking a closer look at that bill and those line items. Like, wait a minute, what am I paying for exactly? So, it\u2019s kind of like, that\u2019s the example I think is more relatable to everybody.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Diego: It\u2019s kind of like my water bill rising drastically and tripling and I\u2019m going, \u201cMan, what\u2019s behind this?\u201d And then, \u201cOh, I spot a leak in my front yard.\u201d So, I know what you mean. You have to sort of comb through the line items to see what is this big bill?\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1784669334_914_CB_AnimalServices-12.jpg\")
Visitors look at pets available for adoption at the city of El Paso Animal Services shelter, July 17, 2026. (Corrie Boudreaux\/El Paso Matters)<\/p>\n
Elida: So, I think that\u2019s what\u2019s happening. I don\u2019t think that these partners aren\u2019t trying to not pay ever again. Although San Elizario is kind of in a position where they, a couple of months ago, paused on paying so they can figure out how to look through that because they don\u2019t have an auditor. They don\u2019t have, the funds to hire an auditor to audit those things. So I think they\u2019re in more of a position where they\u2019re trying to figure out what comes next.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Because if they end up ending their agreement, then they\u2019re going to be in that tough spot of like, \u201cOK, well, what are you going to be seeing in the streets of San Elizario as far as animals go?\u201d Or people that can\u2019t take care of their pets or any number of those issues that come up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So, I think it has to be an ongoing conversation, which seems like people are willing to come to the table to have. Unfortunately, it is also one of those situations where the costs are what the costs are. So, if the city, for example, lowers the cost of what these agreements are, then El Paso taxpayers are still on the hook for making up for that.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So, what comes next is I think there\u2019s still a bit of a question mark. But, as far as the county goes, they are working to build a new shelter to serve that area. So, that will certainly help, but it\u2019s going to be a few years down the line.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If other municipalities start to have these conversations and say, \u201cWell, what are the solutions that we can do within our own communities, like maybe hiring animal services officers.\u201d I think those conversations are going to start taking place more seriously as a result of this. So, I wish I could reach into my bag and \u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
Diego: Pull out a crystal ball?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Elida: Yeah, and give you like, \u201cNobody will drop dogs off in the desert. Everybody will spay and neuter their pets. Everybody will be responsible pet owners.\u201d That\u2019s the answer I wish I could give you. But I think it\u2019s still a little uncertain.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Diego: Sure. We\u2019ll be curious to see how this impasse plays out, right? And sort of how the city and these municipalities come to terms and kind of settle up these bills. So, it\u2019ll be something interesting to see. So, we\u2019ll leave that there.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But before I let you go, Elida, what\u2019s next? Is it city budget season coming up? What do you got coming up next?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Elida: City budget season and county budget season are fixing to get into fuller gear, if you will. We\u2019re getting closer to adopting budgets, hearing what the actual tax rates are going to be based on certified values, which should be out at the end of this month. So, we\u2019ll be taking a close look at that and all sorts of other interesting topics that unfold with county and city government.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Diego: Yep, you\u2019re always there and keeping us informed on all the city and county goings on. So, we appreciate it, Elida, and hope to have you on the podcast soon. Maybe we\u2019ll talk budget stuff if there\u2019s anything interesting and fun.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Elida: There\u2019s a lot of interesting things going on with the budgets this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Diego: Cool. All right, thanks for your time, Elida. We\u2019ll leave it there.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Elida: Thank you for having me.<\/p>\n
Related<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"El Paso seeks unpaid animal services bills from ne | RSS.com Diego Mendoza-Moyers: Today: Who pays to round…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":381473,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[138,140,139],"class_list":["post-381472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-el-paso","tag-el-paso","tag-el-paso-headlines","tag-el-paso-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=381472"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381472\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/381473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=381472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=381472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=381472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Youtube](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1784669331_557_hqdefault.jpg\")
<\/p>\n