VICTORY: San Antonio agrees to stop hiding comments on government-run animal shelter’s Facebook page

After an open records request and a public statement from FIRE, the City of San Antonio, Texas, has agreed to stop hiding comments on the public San Antonio Animal Care Services Facebook page. 

This win comes after several critics of the agency’s euthanasia policy noticed that their comments on the agency’s posts would often disappear. Suspecting that their constitutional right to freedom of speech was being violated, they contacted FIRE.

FIRE submitted an open records request to San Antonio asking to see the comments it had hidden. Through that request, we learned that in a four-week period beginning May 1, Animal Care Services hid more than 400 comments. Around 80% of them criticize the agency’s euthanasia policy. They include the following:

• Please stop. Don’t plead them out because you’re choosing to kill them. Plead them out because you want them to be safe. Therefore give them more time. You’ve been killing puppies far too often recently and tomorrow a return from foster family is due back then you’ll have them on the kill list also. Why are you CHOOSING to kill multiples for ONE kennel ??!!! You refuse to answer that question EVER
• Mistreated by humans and then killed by ACS! This inhumane cycle needs to stop! Please speak out against ACS! Don’t let them put another uncaring director in charge, who isn’t willing to actually work to eliminate the killing of innocent dogs and cats!
• Do you tell surrendering owners that their pet usually will only have a few days to be adopted before you kill it?

Euthanasia is a contentious issue, and Animal Care Services made it harder for those who object to it to share their views, creating the false perception that its own narrative was the dominant, or even the only, perspective.

But the First Amendment does not allow government agencies to pick and choose which opinions they welcome on their social media pages. When the government opens up a public forum — like an online comment section — it must allow all commenters to express themselves freely.

FIRE wrote a letter to Animal Care Services on Sept. 11, explaining the agency’s constitutional obligations. San Antonio got back to us on Sept. 23, agreeing to stop hiding or removing comments. 

This is a win for the people of San Antonio, who can now be sure that they can express their views and that other people will see them.