At this week's mayoral forum on animal welfare issues, Donna Bryant lugged along Sugar Booger — a bull terrier she said she'd rescued from the city and nursed back to health from “skin and bones” — in search of answers.
She wanted to know: Who might support the banning of specific breeds of dogs in San Antonio? Texas currently prohibits such laws.
“If there's a will, there's a way to get it done,” Trish DeBerry-Mejia later told the audience.
Among the four candidates at the forum, the businesswoman expressed the strongest interest in banning certain breeds. Julián Castro said he would consider an ordinance against pit bulls in light of recent attacks.
Councilwomen Diane Cibrian and Sheila McNeil both said they would not support any breed-specific law, the latter with a line that provoked a few chuckles.
“I've seen some pretty mean Chihuahuas out there,” McNeil said.
Members of more than 20 animal groups showed up Monday evening at the headquarters of the Humane Society, SPCA of Bexar County to hear from Castro, Cibrian, DeBerry-Mejia and McNeil. The five other candidates were not invited.
The groups submitted questions that probed the candidates' mindsets on a variety of topics, including the city's goal of ending the killing of healthy, adoptable animals by 2012.
“I'll be honest with you, folks,” DeBerry-Mejia said, “I do not think we're going to get there.”
She stressed the importance of neighborhood spay and neuter programs.
In a city with more than 1 million animals, some officials estimate that 100,000 animals a year must be spayed or neutered to achieve the 2012 goal. Currently, the rate is about 50,000 a year.
Acknowledging the likelihood of a tight budget next year, Castro promised he would at least maintain current funding levels for Animal Care Services. He added that the agency should strengthen its enforcement of local laws to control the animal population while channeling fees and fines into the department.
The city did enact an animal restriction Jan. 1 — residents must purchase a $50 permit to own one that is not spayed or neutered.
“I think now, a lot of blind eyes are being turned,” Castro said.
Noting that the no-kill goal has risen to the top of the City Council's agenda, McNeil conceded she was unfamiliar with the chapter of the municipal code that deals with animals.
“Chapter five of the ordinance, I have not read,” she said, but added that she would work to “create a culture and environment where we love our animals.”
And Cibrian was adamant that the 2012 no-kill goal is attainable.
“I am deeply committed to this goal,” she said, stressing education and enforcement of current ordinances.
For Bryant, the owner of the bull terrier, one issue eclipsed all others: the possibility that the city could ban Sugar Booger.
Bryant learned of Cibrian's stance against such a law on Tuesday. (She didn't attend the forum because the Humane Society did not allow Sugar Booger inside.)
“Well, good,” Bryant said. “Now I know who to vote for.”
