In 2023, Bexar County sheriff's deputies seized 80 animals from a southwest Bexar County property that Sheriff Javier Salazar publicly called a "puppy mill." The animals were living in filthy conditions. The owner, then 79 years old, walked away without charges.

On Monday, deputies returned to the same address. The owner had left Texas weeks earlier, abandoning 18 dogs with no one to care for them. A neighbor tried to help but couldn't afford to keep going. When animal control arrived, the dogs were malnourished, confined to cages full of feces, and covered in ticks and fleas.

This is not a one-time lapse. It is the same property, the same owner, and the same pattern of neglect, repeated without consequence. The first seizure produced no charges and set a clear precedent: that the law does not apply to this address.

Eighteen more dogs paid for that precedent.

Animal abandonment without food and water is a criminal offense in Texas. Repeated animal cruelty at a known location, after a documented prior seizure, is grounds for prosecution. The Bexar County District Attorney has the authority to file charges. Sheriff Salazar has documented evidence from two separate seizures at this address.

The person who left these animals to starve deserves to face the full weight of Texas law, and to be permanently barred from owning animals ever again.

Sign the petition to demand the Bexar County District Attorney pursue animal cruelty charges against the owner of this property, and to call on Sheriff Salazar to ensure the full case is referred for prosecution.