Fresno City Hall workshop outlines the challenges faced by the Central California SPCA

Fresno, Calif. (KFSN) -- The Central California SPCA took in over 27,000 animals last year. It is not a happy story for the strays--of the 10,000 dogs impounded just 1,123 were reclaimed.

At City Hall Executive Director Linda Van Kirk talked of the need for educational outreach as well as an aggressive spay and neuter campaign.

Dog bites in the city of Fresno jumped from 480 in 2013 to 853 in 2016.

"What we would like to see is at least two officers hired that would go out on a daily basis and sweep those neighborhoods with the highest number of strays," said Van Kirk.

The City Council did not discuss any future additions but Councilmember Clint Olivier criticized the SPCA response to public concerns over stray animals.

"It's not good government to have a community partner that we send millions of tax dollars to and we can't get a callback. We can't get through and then we try to reach out your organization is closed to us," said Olivier.

The SPCA's request for increased funding in the latest city budget was denied.

Councilmember Esmeralda Soria said she's heard from owners who were not contacted when their micro-chipped pet was rounded up by an animal control officer.

"I think we really need to work on how do we improve the service so residents just give up. I've had a lot of those complaints," said Soria.

The SPCA identified an area with the zip code 93706 as Fresno's most problematic when it comes to stray animals.