In a video making the rounds on social media, a woman is standing near the entrance to the Austin Animal Center with a medium-sized dog on a leash. She’s telling a staff member she cannot keep the dog, who is a stray, and that she has already completed the online form to schedule an appointment to bring […]
Animal Advisory Commission
The Animal Advisory Commission advises the Austin City Council and the Travis County Commissioners Court on Texas Health and Safety Code compliance regarding animal shelters and on animal welfare policies.
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Two Apples, one day
Update on Oakwood… A Dec. 13 memo from Austin Parks and Recreation Department Director Kimberly McNeeley gives an update to the Oakwood Cemetery archaeological findings, with “next steps for the reinterment, memorialization and educational outreach related to burials that were discovered beneath the Oakwood Cemetery Chapel during its rehabilitation.” In 2016, construction at the chapel […]
Posted inAustin
Austin cat advocates ask city to reevaluate shelter-neuter-release program
The stated goal of the Austin Animal Center is to place all adoptable animals in forever homes. However, even with this intention and a no-kill policy to back it up, not all animals are given the same chance to find a home. In 2011, the city’s shelter implemented a shelter-neuter-release (SNR) program in conjunction with […]
Posted inAustin
Commission calls on Austin to ban cat declawing
The city Animal Advisory Commission has unanimously recommended that the city ban cat declawing. The commission unanimously approved the resolution on Monday after hearing an hour of testimony from veterinarians and animal rights activists, most of whom described declawing as a painful procedure that serves no medical purpose. Roy Smith, who has been a practicing […]
Posted inAustin
The cats are alive and well at the Austin Animal Center
After a significant dip in live outcomes for cats in April, the Animal Advisory Commission began to seriously consider how it could reverse that trend to allow more animals to survive their stay as a guest at the Austin Animal Center. As a result of the concentrated efforts, this month the live release rate for […]
Posted inCity Hall
Commission weighs benefits of playgroups vs. walks for dogs
Although walking a dog seems like one of the most rudimentary interactions you can have with your pet, it is a daily chore that routinely takes a back seat at the Austin Animal Center due to its lack of manpower. Instead, staff and volunteers have come to rely on playgroups, or groups of dogs paired together […]
Posted inAustin
Shelter cat live outcome rate dips below 90 percent
As a no-kill shelter, Austin Animal Center has a goal of sending out as many animals into happy homes as possible. Unfortunately, this month, the shelter was able to do that less often for its cats than it has in the past. Jason Garza, the deputy chief animal services officer with Austin Animal Center, informed the […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Solutions and such
That got a little prickly… The Texas Health and Science University earned the recommendation of the Planning Commission at its Nov. 14 meeting to rezone in order to construct a library next door to the acupuncture school as well as dormitories in a single-family neighborhood. “(The school is) getting overrun with foreign students,” said agent Jim […]
Posted inAustin
Animal Advisory Commission weighs Monk parakeet deal
Austin’s population of Monk parakeets has garnered a lot of attention over the past few weeks, with some questioning Austin Energy’s policy for removing the birds’ nests from power lines and utility structures in town. The Animal Advisory Commission heard from Elaina Ball at its June 12 meeting. Ball, who is the chief operating officer […]
Posted inCity Council
City Council debates coyotes
City Council spent most of the morning Thursday discussing what to do about coyotes. Council was asked by city staff to approve an ordinance that would authorize the Animal Services Department to negotiate and execute a contract with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Services-Wildlife Services (otherwise referred to as Texas Wildlife Services) to assist in the […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: What has hot dogs, great views and live music? It’s a roundup festival!
Hot dogs at Town Lake Animal Center… Things got heated during the Animal Advisory Commission’s recent discussion of the temperature of the Town Lake Animal Center. There has been increasing public concern over ineffectual swamp coolers where the outdoor kennels are, which means dogs have no protection against the humid Austin summer. Veterinarians have determined […]
Posted inAustin
Animal Commission votes down spay and neuter proposal
Despite public appeals, the Animal Commission has decided not to move forward on a proposed ordinance that would require that all dogs brought to Austin animal shelter be spayed or neutered the first time they are impounded. The ordinance was meant to reduce the number of animals filling shelters by preventing stray dogs from breeding. […]