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 […]
Austin Animal Shelter
This shelter is the official shelter of the city of Austin, opened in 2011. It is located in East Austin on Levander Loop.
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: ’Tis the season
No nativity scene for you, says Zimmerman… Former Council Member Don Zimmerman is evidently still smarting over his 2016 defeat, and especially the fact that a majority of his neighbors did not vote for him. In years past, Zimmerman and his wife, Jennifer, participated in a Christmas tree lighting festival in their neighborhood, Canyon Creek. […]
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 inCity Council
Council votes to spay/neuter stray animals on first impoundment
A proposal that requires that stray dogs and cats be spayed or neutered so they can’t reproduce moved forward this week, despite questions over whether the measure actually addresses the problems it’s meant to solve. City Council voted 8-1 to pass a proposal that dogs and cats be spayed or neutered the first time they […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Reach for the czars
It’s a dog-eat-chicken world… In comments to City Council during citizens communication Thursday, the city’s top anti-dog demagogue, Robert “Crocodile” Corbin, described the Austin Animal Center’s “no kill” policy as “destructive to humans, animals, the environment and our finances.” He reminded them of a previous story he had recounted to them “about a large, old […]
Posted inAustin
City clarifies shelter policies
A clarification about the ownership of shelter animals should keep the city out of legal trouble, though some City Council members had reservations that the changes were moving too fast. Kristen Auerbach, who is the deputy chief animal services officer at the Austin Animal Center, explained that the ordinance is based on a recent ruling […]
Posted inAustin
New Chief Animal Services Officer stresses adoption
Austin’s new chief animal services officer says the city’s no-kill status was what persuaded her to take the job. But Tawny Hammond told the Austin Monitor on Tuesday that for Austin to sustain its no-kill status, more people need to be adopting shelter and rescue animals. “If the city of Austin and the community of Austin wants […]
Posted inCity Hall
Audit reveals trouble in city’s animal shelters
A city audit of Austin Animal Services has revealed serious problems within the department and its shelters. The audit found that the department does not have sufficient resources to meet its 90 percent live outcome goal while maintaining state requirements and industry best practices. The city conducted the audit from October 2012 through November 2014. […]
Posted inAustin, Texas State Legislature
Animal Advisory Commission wary of animal legislation
Members of Austin’s Animal Advisory Commission requested more time Wednesday night to consider whether to recommend a bill some say would threaten city shelters’ “no-kill” status. The committee considered two bills filed by state representatives concerning veterinarian practice in city shelters, but because of confusion over what the bills would mean for animal care, it […]
Posted inAustin, City Hall
Chief Animal Services Officer Smith to resign
The head of the City of Austin’s Animal Services is leaving to take a position in Kennebunk, Maine. Abigail Smith, who oversaw the majority of the city’s transition to no-kill status, will depart before the end of the year. Smith, who is from New England, told the Monitor that her new job affords her the […]