Austin Animal Services Office releases fiscal year statistical report and waives adoption fees

Due to consistent overcrowding, the Austin Animal Center has waived adoption fees for the foreseeable future. Numbers from the Austin Animal Services Office’s statistical report for Fiscal Year 2025 show a continued need for adoptions.

Austin Animal Services Office released a statistical report spanning the months of October 2024 through January 2025. In total, the office took in 1,653 dogs and 1,693 cats during the fiscal year. Collectively, outcome intake reported 1,034 dogs and 1,363 cats were adopted throughout the year.

Don Bland, chief animal services officer, presented the Animal Advisory Commission with statistics from the report at their regular meeting on Feb. 10.

Commissioner Lotta Smagula questioned why walk-in adoptions from on-site applications are not counted in the total number of adoptions on the report.

“Those that are online that go through the system are counted. If someone walked in … there’s not a way to track that if they process them currently, physically in person. They’d have to do some sort of a manual … poll (of) all the staff at the end of the day,” Bland said. “That’s just something that hasn’t been done and it’s just not something the system keeps up with like that.”

Thus, the data from the reports may not reflect the actual number of animals adopted or the total number currently held within city shelters.

Adoption fees are currently waived for all shelter animals at the Austin Animal Center, and at present, shelter capacity is at a maximum with only critical emergency intakes being accepted for all dogs.

“Adoption fees have been waived for at least a year. As long as we are short on space for intake they will most likely be waived,” said Elizabeth Bell, customer service associate at the Austin Animal Center.

Recognizing the generosity of the community and appreciating its volunteerism, Bland stated, “You’ve heard me say it many times before, but I’ll say it again: Our volunteers produce more hours in a month than most municipal shelters usually do in a whole year.”

To illustrate that point, he explained that in January, the shelter onboarded four new volunteers to bring the total of new volunteers up to 170. As of January, there were 517 active volunteers who put in almost 6,480 hours of work at the shelter.

The Animal Services Department currently has three open, full-time positions that are posted on the city’s website. Interested individuals can apply for positions for animal enrichment specialist, animal service customer care representative and animal protection officer.  Additionally, positions for a vet services supervisor and customer service representative are in the hiring process or are about to be posted.

Pets up for adoption can be viewed online. This viewable database includes dogs and cats of various sizes, breeds and ages. Also, there are dozens of animals in the stray hold period that won’t be listed on the online database but can be pre-adopted in person at the shelter in case their owner doesn’t claim them.

The Austin Animal Center is located at 7201 Levander Loop, Austin, TX 78702. It is open daily from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. for walk-ins and reclaims. Shelter staff has requested that visitors sign in by 6 p.m. in order to ensure everyone is assisted prior to closing. Further adoption and foster information can be found on the Austin Animal Center web page.

Additionally, the center offers free microchipping, fencing assistance, doghouse assistance, spay and neuter surgeries, and vaccines for currently owned pets through Emancipet free day clinics.

Photo made available through a Creative Commons license.

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