Animal Advisory Commission wants pets allowed in cooling centers

The Animal Advisory Commission is urging the city to allow pets inside designated cooling centers as summer heats up. 

The commission unanimously passed a recommendation that urges the city to identify “a number of cooling centers throughout the City of Austin that persons with companion animals may go to for relief during times of intense heat when cooling centers are activated.”

Currently, any person with a pet has to tell the staff at a cooling center to contact Animal Services for a cooling truck to hold their pet while the person stays at the center. Commissioners said this process is inefficient and keeps animal prevention officers from focusing on more urgent calls.

“I just don’t think that is an efficient use of the animal protection officers when there are so many calls that they’re having to respond to,” Commissioner Lotta Smagula, who introduced the recommendation, said during the commission’s meeting Monday. 

Austin allows only service animals inside cooling centers. City officials said in 2022 that both a city ordinance and Austin Public Library rules prevent pets from entering recreation centers and libraries, which the city uses as cooling centers.

“Regularly scheduled activities continue during cooling center (activities), putting all guests at risk when pets are present in a facility not designed for accommodating a variety of small animals,” Bill Wilson, a chief emergency plans officer, said at the time. 

Wilson said the Austin Animal Center has been able to get trucks from the emergency response office, though he cautioned to not advertise the service because AAC’s overcrowding makes it harder to fulfill requests for additional services.

Mark Sloat, a program manager for Animal Services during 2022, said the city “had no issues during the summer with any animals that needed cooling.” 

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