I've been rescuing for 30 years and have received many calls from people who found stray and injured animals. We need an animal shelter with enough capacity to take in these animals without just leaving them to die on the side of the road.
A
Anonymous
7 months ago
Friendly desirable dogs are breeding and dying on the streets because the shelter is full of long stay dogs.
D
D Ernst
7 months ago
Animals should be taken care of. That's horrible that you tell people leave them where they're at because we're not taking them in So our numbers can be down
J
Jessica Nelson
7 months ago
All animals deserve a chance
A
Anonymous
7 months ago
Featured
Austin needs an open intake shelter, even if that means lowering the live release rate to 90%. The community is drowning in animals with no where to take them.
Please select a director who is not swayed by APA and the extreme, inhumane no kill propaganda. It’s not working and animals are suffering.
J
Juliana Evans
7 months ago
Featured
Their policies are also in breach of the Texas Health & Safety code. Local ordinance does NOT override state law. They should be prosecuted for failure to pick up and impound also also for telling people to go dump the dog back where you found it.
L
Laura L Jackson
7 months ago
Please practice common sense sheltering. Implement proactive prevention- mandatory spay/neuter. It's the only thing that reduces shelter intake. "No kill" is no count. It's no good. Preventing people from surrendering pets means they dump them on roadways. There are packs of feral dogs in the county. They kill wildlife and livestock to survive.
No kill also means housing sick, aggressive and old pets with little chance of adoption. Spay neuter is proactive, adoption is reactive. Bring back the SpayStreet program- spay neuter Outreach!
C
CrystaLynn Trammell
7 months ago
I agree we need kill shelters just as we need more use of the death penalty in humans.
B
Bethany Bond
7 months ago
Thank you!
J
Jarad
7 months ago
We need change. The current model isn’t working. We need a shelter director not affiliated with APA or Best Friends.
T
Tracy Voss
7 months ago
Austin Pets Alive - a mini Best Friends has caused the largest animal crisis in U.S. history. Look at what they did to El Paso, Houston, Memphis, Dallas etc!
K
Keiko Ichiye
7 months ago
Please make sure Austin takes care of the animals it has before accepting animals from outside of the city.
K
Katia
7 months ago
Featured
There are too many adoptable animals dying in the streets and unadoptable animals in the shelter. Some animals have been kept at APA for years deteriorating, yet easy to adopt animals are dying after being hit by cars because they don't know how to survive outdoors. People are now no longer willing to help stray animals because they will be financially and physically responsible for the animal.
A
Anonymous
7 months ago
I picked up two highly adoptable small dogs that I saw dumped. And could not take them to the shelter because it is filled with difficult to adopt long term resident dogs. Instead of a vet check and spaying if needed, we rehomed these animals with a prayer that the new homes would assure they were spayed. Not having accesses to services that I pay for from my taxes is insane. All the while, APA and other "local" rescues import dogs from outside the area because they are not no-kill cities.
The 95% rate does not work. I'm not sure 90% will work, but I do know that it will help some.
L
Leslie Padilla
7 months ago
I was a five year volunteer at APA and saw firsthand the effects of no-kill policies on animals-- very long, stressful stays in a crumbling facility that was never designed for any animal to live more than a few days, much less months or even years. I also witnessed APA's harmful influence on the city of Austin's policies, more generally-- and on the city shelter specifically. It used to be a true open intake shelter, but "no kill" didn't want that. I remain an active shelter volunteer, and I can vouch that no shelter, staffer or volunteers that I have ever worked with wants animals to die. But "no kill" is not the solution. I hope Austin is able to attract a qualified director, but if the city puts "no kill" above all else and if APA continues to have outsized influence, I doubt that person will be able to turn the tide.
A
Anonymous
7 months ago
Featured
A shelter’s number one priority is public safety. A rescue’s number one priority is saving dogs from euthanasia.
Why is a city funded shelter trying to operate like a rescue non-profit?
Hire a shelter direct who understands this difference.
Return the live release rate to 90% (still no-kill), open intake, and hirer a shelter director NOT affiliated with APA or BFAS.
J
Jamie W
7 months ago
OPEN INTAKE!!!
We have too many loose and roaming dog and no where to take them.
Want to keep Austin No-Kill?
Change the APA contract so they can no longer bring in animals from all over the state, make the live release rate 90%, and encourage rescues to pull from AAC instead. No-kill prevents rescues from helping our shelter dogs.
Too many conflicting variables are making the system not work and animals are suffering b/c of it.
J
Jared Long
7 months ago
Featured
Far too often, dogs are roaming the streets with people feeling lost on how they can be helpful as the city shelter doesn’t take in new dogs. This leaves dogs out on the street with a high chance of injury or death. People should not feel “stuck” with a stray dog because the city doesn’t have the capacity to help. “No kill” is not humane for a city run shelter.
J
Joy Long
7 months ago
Please prioritize the interest of public safety and animal welfare but reinstating AAC as open intake.
Return the shelter to open intake
I've been rescuing for 30 years and have received many calls from people who found stray and injured animals. We need an animal shelter with enough capacity to take in these animals without just leaving them to die on the side of the road.
Friendly desirable dogs are breeding and dying on the streets because the shelter is full of long stay dogs.
Animals should be taken care of. That's horrible that you tell people leave them where they're at because we're not taking them in So our numbers can be down
All animals deserve a chance
Austin needs an open intake shelter, even if that means lowering the live release rate to 90%. The community is drowning in animals with no where to take them. Please select a director who is not swayed by APA and the extreme, inhumane no kill propaganda. It’s not working and animals are suffering.
Their policies are also in breach of the Texas Health & Safety code. Local ordinance does NOT override state law. They should be prosecuted for failure to pick up and impound also also for telling people to go dump the dog back where you found it.
Please practice common sense sheltering. Implement proactive prevention- mandatory spay/neuter. It's the only thing that reduces shelter intake. "No kill" is no count. It's no good. Preventing people from surrendering pets means they dump them on roadways. There are packs of feral dogs in the county. They kill wildlife and livestock to survive. No kill also means housing sick, aggressive and old pets with little chance of adoption. Spay neuter is proactive, adoption is reactive. Bring back the SpayStreet program- spay neuter Outreach!
I agree we need kill shelters just as we need more use of the death penalty in humans.
Thank you!
We need change. The current model isn’t working. We need a shelter director not affiliated with APA or Best Friends.
Austin Pets Alive - a mini Best Friends has caused the largest animal crisis in U.S. history. Look at what they did to El Paso, Houston, Memphis, Dallas etc!
Please make sure Austin takes care of the animals it has before accepting animals from outside of the city.
There are too many adoptable animals dying in the streets and unadoptable animals in the shelter. Some animals have been kept at APA for years deteriorating, yet easy to adopt animals are dying after being hit by cars because they don't know how to survive outdoors. People are now no longer willing to help stray animals because they will be financially and physically responsible for the animal.
I picked up two highly adoptable small dogs that I saw dumped. And could not take them to the shelter because it is filled with difficult to adopt long term resident dogs. Instead of a vet check and spaying if needed, we rehomed these animals with a prayer that the new homes would assure they were spayed. Not having accesses to services that I pay for from my taxes is insane. All the while, APA and other "local" rescues import dogs from outside the area because they are not no-kill cities. The 95% rate does not work. I'm not sure 90% will work, but I do know that it will help some.
I was a five year volunteer at APA and saw firsthand the effects of no-kill policies on animals-- very long, stressful stays in a crumbling facility that was never designed for any animal to live more than a few days, much less months or even years. I also witnessed APA's harmful influence on the city of Austin's policies, more generally-- and on the city shelter specifically. It used to be a true open intake shelter, but "no kill" didn't want that. I remain an active shelter volunteer, and I can vouch that no shelter, staffer or volunteers that I have ever worked with wants animals to die. But "no kill" is not the solution. I hope Austin is able to attract a qualified director, but if the city puts "no kill" above all else and if APA continues to have outsized influence, I doubt that person will be able to turn the tide.
A shelter’s number one priority is public safety. A rescue’s number one priority is saving dogs from euthanasia. Why is a city funded shelter trying to operate like a rescue non-profit? Hire a shelter direct who understands this difference. Return the live release rate to 90% (still no-kill), open intake, and hirer a shelter director NOT affiliated with APA or BFAS.
OPEN INTAKE!!! We have too many loose and roaming dog and no where to take them. Want to keep Austin No-Kill? Change the APA contract so they can no longer bring in animals from all over the state, make the live release rate 90%, and encourage rescues to pull from AAC instead. No-kill prevents rescues from helping our shelter dogs. Too many conflicting variables are making the system not work and animals are suffering b/c of it.
Far too often, dogs are roaming the streets with people feeling lost on how they can be helpful as the city shelter doesn’t take in new dogs. This leaves dogs out on the street with a high chance of injury or death. People should not feel “stuck” with a stray dog because the city doesn’t have the capacity to help. “No kill” is not humane for a city run shelter.
Please prioritize the interest of public safety and animal welfare but reinstating AAC as open intake.