Animal Care and Control serves the citizens and animals within the city limits of Balcones Heights and is committed to providing animal control by enforcement of our City Animal Ordinances and State Law; as well as provide care for the animals which are brought into our facility. For Animal Control please call: 210.957.3185.
It is our hope that Animal Care & Control can educate our community to gain a better understanding about animal control, the services we provide, and the responsibilities and obligations that are part of being a responsible pet owner.
Please keep your pets safe. Check your entire property for any openings in the fence. Your pet could get hurt, lost, or may cause harm to others. Also don’t forget to have them vaccinated and registered with the City of Balcones Heights.
Animal registration tags are available at the Justice Center Monday through Thursday 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Friday 7:30-11:30 a.m. for $5.00 per animal for a one-year license. Please bring proof of vaccination and a photo of the animal when you register so that we can reunite the animal with the owner should he/she become loose.
Section 90.30 Running at Large. It shall be unlawful for the owner or person in possession or control thereof to permit or allow any dog or cat to run at large within the city.
Section 90.33 Removal of Pet Excrement. No person shall appear with a pet upon the public ways or within public places or upon the property of another, absent that person’s consent, without some means for the removal of excrement; nor shall any person fail to remove any excrement deposited by such pet. This section shall not apply to a blind person while walking his or her guide dog.
Animal Control
With the assistance of the Police Department we will strive to keep our community pets safe. Check your entire property for any openings in the fence; your pet could get hurt or may cause harm to others because he/she is lost and frightened. Also don’t forget to have them vaccinated and registered.
Registration and License Required. The owner of any dog or cat must apply for a license and pay the license fee required by the city for each dog or cat before the animal attains four months of age. The application shall include the name and address of the applicant, description and photograph of the animal, and a current copy the dog or cat’s rabies vaccination. Application for a license must be made within 30 days after obtaining a dog or cat over three months of age; this requirement will not apply to a non-resident keeping a dog or cat within the municipality for no longer than 60 days. Animal registration tags are available at the Justice Center Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Registrations will expire December 31st of each year.
We want reunite you with your pet should he/she become loose. Each dog and cat must wear an identification tag attached to a properly fitted collar at all times.
Impoundment. Unlicensed dogs and cats, other domestic animals and livestock shall be impounded and kept for not more than 72 hours after which time they become the property of the city. Licensed impounded animals shall be kept for not more than 120 hours. Any animal not reclaimed by its owner within 120 hours shall become the property of the city and shall become available for adoption in a suitable home or humanely euthanized.
Leash Law and Removal of Pet Excrement. An animal owner or keeper shall not walk an animal without a leash restraint or without otherwise having such animal under control, and shall not guide or take animals onto the yards or driveways of property not owned, leased or occupied by the animal owner for the purpose of allowing the animal to defecate, but shall keep the animal in the public right-of-way, and shall carry a container with implement for the sanitary removal of the animal's fecal matter from the public sidewalk and public right-of-way adjacent to any property with a structure or other improvements thereon.
Limiting the number of domestic animals. In residentially zoned properties you may register and keep up to four animals on properties less than one-half acre. If the residential property exceeds one-half acre, you may register and keep up to six animals.
Trap-Neuter-Return program. The City of Balcones Heights recognized the need to implement a program to control overpopulation of feral cats within our community. In May 2015, the City adopted an ordinance implementing a feral cats Trap-Neuter-Return program. We have partnered with the San Antonio Feral Cat Coalition; a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to humanely reduce the feral and stray cat population through Trap-Neuter-Return.
This program is a nationally accepted program and provides humane trapping, neutering, and returning cats to where they were trapped. There are no more kittens, the population stabilizes and the returned neutered cats’ lives are improved. With TNR, cats are vaccinated against rabies and ear-tipped for identification. If you are interested in volunteering to help our community control the outdoor cat population, please call Community Development at 210.957-3545 or for more information on this program visit sanantonioferalcats.org
Section 90.55 Registration and Permit Required. It shall be unlawful for any person to own, keep, or harbor any dog or cat, more than four months of age, within the city without first registering said animal with the city and obtaining a valid permit and tag for such dog or cat.
For more information contact Janet Thelen, Community Development Director - jthelen@bhtx.gov
