Update: After publication, this proposed ordinance was pulled from the Sept. 4 City Council agenda for procedural reasons. It will be considered at a later date.

San Antonio is considering fines as high as $2,000 for people who abandon dogs, cats and other animals within city limits.

The move comes as the city took a similar approach last year to fining pet owners if their dog bites someone.

Texas law considers animal abandonment a Class A misdemeanor, a state jail felony, or a felony of the third degree — depending on the severity of the circumstances.

But Animal Care Services Director Jonathan Gary said the state law is typically only used to go after people whose animals are harmed by the abandonment, whereas San Antonio plans to make the act of abandonment itself illegal.

A dra

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