{"id":94977,"date":"2025-12-20T03:32:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-20T03:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/94977\/"},"modified":"2025-12-20T03:32:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-20T03:32:09","slug":"inside-an-acs-investigation-from-the-pet-owners-point-of-view","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/94977\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside an ACS investigation from the pet owner\u2019s point of view"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN ANTONIO \u2013 Deadly and high-profile dog attacks<\/a> have put the spotlight on dangerous and aggressive dogs in San Antonio.<\/p>\n

As the number of reported dog attacks doubled in the 2025 fiscal year, questions arise about what classifies a dog as dangerous or aggressive.<\/p>\n

\u201cDangerous\u201d dogs are classified as having attacked or menaced people, unprovoked, outside of their enclosures.<\/p>\n

\u201cAggressive\u201d dogs are generally those found to have gone after other animals.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not just the big dog down the street that could be ruled \u201cdangerous.\u201d It could just as easily be yours \u2014 no matter how cute.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne instance is enough to deem a dog \u2018dangerous,\u2019\u201d said ACS Assistant Director Brad Davenport, who oversees the department\u2019s bite and dangerous dog investigations. \u201cWe do look at history, but one instance is enough.”<\/p>\n

Kristin Cooper had eight French Bulldogs at her Far Northwest Side home \u2014 five of them just 14-week-old puppies \u2014 when she says some of the dogs escaped through an unlatched gate in early November.<\/p>\n

Cooper wasn\u2019t home at the time, but was told her dogs went after some of her neighbors.<\/p>\n

One neighbor said one of the adult dogs, Gumball, bit someone, but Cooper\u2019s not sure about the others.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have no idea even what dog bit (another one of Cooper\u2019s neighbors) because, per the investigator, they couldn\u2019t identify,\u201d Cooper said.<\/p>\n

An ACS spokeswoman said three people were bit in all, and there is video of the dogs repeatedly getting out and charging and threatening people. <\/p>\n

How does ACS determine if a dog is dangerous or aggressive?<\/p>\n

When determining if a designation is warranted, Animal Care Services investigators look for photo and video evidence, proof of a bite, or even an owner\u2019s admission their dog was part of an incident.<\/p>\n

Depending on the designation, these labels carry requirements for the owners to take precautions, such as posting signage, using a muzzle and sturdy leash, and even carrying a $100,000 liability insurance policy.<\/p>\n

Owners also have to pay any impoundment fees and other costs for their dog\u2019s care.<\/p>\n

Restrictions on a \u201cdangerous\u201d dog last the rest of its life, while \u201caggressive\u201d designations last only one to three years. <\/p>\n

An owner can appeal a decision, but if the decision stands, the owner has a choice to make.<\/p>\n

If an owner doesn\u2019t want to comply and surrenders their \u201cdangerous\u201d dog instead, the animal is euthanized. <\/p>\n

While it could happen with \u201caggressive\u201d dogs that are surrendered, an ACS spokesperson said it\u2019s not guaranteed.<\/p>\n

The aftermath of an investigation<\/p>\n

ACS quarantined all eight of the dogs at Cooper\u2019s house and deemed them \u201cdangerous,\u201d according to emails and paperwork reviewed by KSAT.<\/p>\n

Cooper is appealing the designation of her six dogs at a hearing on Monday.<\/p>\n

Gumball and another dog from the house have already been surrendered to ACS.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fees to get them back is pretty horrendous,\u201d Cooper said.<\/p>\n

Cooper hasn\u2019t seen the evidence against her dogs yet. Her open records request through the city was sent to the state attorney general\u2019s office for review.<\/p>\n

Davenport said an owner does not have an automatic right to see the evidence ahead of their appeal.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will deem a dog dangerous if we have evidence. And if they choose to appeal, then we\u2019ll present that evidence in court,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Read also:<\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 by KSAT – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN ANTONIO \u2013 Deadly and high-profile dog attacks have put the spotlight on dangerous and aggressive dogs in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":94978,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[15969,31201,4471,82,84,83],"class_list":["post-94977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-animal-care-services","tag-dog-attack","tag-northwest-side","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94977","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=94977"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94977\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}