A Bexar County couple is facing six counts each of animal cruelty after Bexar County Sheriff's Office deputies found one dead dog and six severely malnourished dogs inside and around their Far Northwest Side home. Julian Salazar, 32, and Sarah Thompson, 30, were arrested and booked into the Bexar County Jail on Thursday, with bond set at $21,000 apiece.
Deputies responded to the home near Bartell Point and Acuff Station around 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, according to KTSA. The property sits in the Meadows at Bridgewood subdivision, an unincorporated stretch of Bexar County near Shaenfield Road and Loop 1604, according to Realtor.com. Deputies found the deceased dog inside the residence, while the six surviving dogs — all in poor condition — were located outside, unchained and with room to move around, as reported by the San Antonio Express-News.
Investigators say the dogs' owners failed to provide food, water and proper care. Crucially for the case, deputies found dog food sitting untouched inside the home, which the Express-News reports allowed investigators to establish probable cause that the neglect was intentional rather than the result of a lack of financial means or supplies. That distinction matters under Texas law, since prosecutors must show the failure to care for the animals was unreasonable and not merely accidental.
Additional Deceased Dogs Under Investigation
The scope of the case may not be finished expanding. Bexar County Sheriff's Office investigators are evaluating whether three additional deceased dogs discovered during the investigation are connected to the same property and suspects, per a Bexar County Sheriff's Office Facebook post. Whether that finding results in additional charges against Salazar and Thompson remains unresolved.
Animal Care Services took custody of the six surviving dogs, the outlet's report notes. Because the property falls in unincorporated Bexar County rather than inside San Antonio city limits, the case falls to the Bexar County Sheriff's Office criminal investigation division and Bexar County Animal Control rather than the city's 311-routed Animal Care Services field response, a jurisdictional split Hoodline has previously outlined.
What Salazar and Thompson Are Facing Legally
Under Texas Penal Code § 42.092, failing unreasonably to provide necessary food, water, care, or shelter to a non-livestock animal is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in county jail and a fine of up to $4,000 per count, according to the Texas Defense Group. With six counts apiece, Salazar and Thompson each face potential maximum fines reaching well into the tens of thousands of dollars if convicted on every count. The same statute can elevate charges to a state jail felony — carrying 180 days to two years in state jail and fines up to $10,000 — if a defendant has two prior convictions under Texas animal cruelty statutes, the group notes.
The case adds to what has become a busy stretch for animal cruelty enforcement across the San Antonio area. San Antonio Animal Care Services filed 35 criminal cruelty cases between October 2025 and February 2026 alone, already surpassing the agency's total criminal filings for all of fiscal year 2025, Hoodline previously reported. Researchers and federal officials treat these cases as more than isolated incidents of animal suffering — the FBI tracks animal cruelty as a Group A felony in its National Incident-Based Reporting System alongside homicides and assaults, citing research linking animal abuse to broader patterns of interpersonal violence.
The case follows a string of similar discoveries in the region this year, including a Northeast Side property where 30 dogs were pulled from a filthy yard and a Clarence Street home where police removed 26 pugs. It remains unclear whether forensic examination of the dead dog found inside the Bartell Point home, or the three additional deceased dogs under review, will lead to further charges against Salazar and Thompson.
