06/18/2026
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Tonight I had the opportunity to address the San Antonio City Council.
Thanks to someone who generously gave me their three minutes, I was able to speak for a full six minutes. I believe I was able to deliver the message I came to share.
I wish I could say I walked away feeling confident that they were truly listening, but honestly, I donāt know. I arrived late and was a little flustered, and speaking before the Council was certainly nerve-racking.
But one thing is certainā¦.,I wonāt stop showing up.
If continuing to speak out helps prevent the direction I believe San Antonio is heading, then Iāll continue attending City Council meetings and advocating for both public safety and animal welfare.
The bottom line is this:
We do not solve pet overpopulation by leaving unaltered animals in our communities.
And a low euthanasia number or a high live release rate means very little if those statistics are not grounded in the reality of what is happening in our neighborhoods.
Below is the speech I delivered tonight. Thank you to everyone who has supported me and encouraged me to keep speaking up. The animals donāt have a voiceābut we do.
Good evening, Mayor and Council Members.
My name is Tracy Voss. I am a retired Merck Animal Health representative, a published childrenās book author who speaks to students about responsible pet ownership, and I have operated a nonprofit animal rescue organization for the past 16 years.
I am also a San Antonio taxpayer and own a home in ZIP code 78247.
I am not here representing an extremist viewāwhether it is the extreme no-kill ideology or the extreme anti-no-kill ideology.
I am here because I believe there is a better path forwardāone grounded in public safety, accountability, responsible pet ownership, and a genuine love for animals guided by practical solutions that keep animals safe.
For years, weāve been asking one question:
How do we save more animals once they reach the shelter?
I believe weāve been asking the wrong question.
The better question is:
How do we keep them from needing the shelter in the first place?
The shelter isnāt where animal overpopulation begins.
Itās where the consequences arrive.
If we truly want fewer animals entering our shelters, fewer dogs roaming our neighborhoods, fewer bite incidents, fewer litters, and fewer euthanasias, we have to solve the problem where it actually startsāin our communities.
Every animal lover wants to see fewer animals euthanized. I certainly do.
But we should never confuse a reduction in euthanasia with a solution to overpopulation.
A shelter statistic is only meaningful if it reflects reality.
While San Antonio celebrates getting closer to a 90% live release rate, many residents are experiencing something very different. They are seeing more loose dogs, more breeding, more complaints, and more frustration trying to get help.
So I believe we have to ask an honest question:
How are we getting to that number?
If we reach it by delaying the pickup of loose and stray animals, we havenāt solved overpopulation.
Weāre creating it.
Every puppy born on the streets today becomes tomorrowās shelter intake.
Every intact dog left roaming in the community creates even more animals that will eventually need homes.
After sixteen years in animal rescue, I have learned one thing:
We cannot rescue, adopt, or build our way out of overpopulation.
We have to prevent our way out of it.
Your constituents donāt live inside the shelter, and the animals shouldnāt be living there either.
They live in our neighborhoods.
Thatās where lasting solutions begin.
If we reduce unwanted litters, increase responsible pet ownership, and intervene before animals ever need the shelter, the shelter population will naturally decline.
But it doesnāt work the other way around.
You cannot try to fix the inside first and expect the outside to improve. Thatās failing everywhere.
The shelter is the result of the problemānot the cause of it.
Compassion is not measured by slogans.
It is measured by results.
A live release rate, by itself, is not the same as animal welfare.
It is not the same as keeping animals safe.
And it is not the same as solving animal overpopulation.
Animal lovers donāt simply want to know that an animal left the shelter alive.
We want to know that it is safe.
Safe from neglect.
Safe from abuse.
Safe from abandonment.
Safe from becoming part of the next unwanted litter.
That is what real animal welfare looks like.
If these policies being sold to us as āmodernā and āprogressiveā truly solved animal overpopulation, we would expect to see communities with fewer loose dogs, fewer bite incidents, fewer unwanted litters, and fewer animals entering shelters.
So I ask you:
Where is that happening?
I havenāt seen it in communities facing the same size, intake volume, and challenges as San Antonio.
What I have seen are communities that continue struggling with overpopulation while celebrating improving shelter statistics.
Those are not the same thing.
If this Council truly wants fewer animals in the shelter next year, there is only one path forward.
Put public safety first.
Invest heavily in education and responsible pet ownership.
Expand access to high-volume, affordable spay and neuter.
Measure success not simply by how many animals leave the shelter alive, but by how many animals never need the shelter at all.
That is how we protect both our citizens and our animals.
The question before this Council is simple:
Do we want to solve the animal overpopulation crisisā¦
Or do we simply want to manage its symptoms?
If we solve whatās happening outside the shelter, whatās happening inside the shelter will begin to solve itself.
But the reverse is not true.
Thank you.
