Austin Animal Intake Response & HASS Updates
Jun 29, 2020 June 29th Last week, we shared news about the Human Animal Support Services project (HASS). HASS, a project is that, among other things, aims to create programming to better serve people and pets in many ways, much like social services for humans. We’ve seen some instances of lost pets being turned away at the municipal shelter and finders being recommended to turn those pets loose. This is NOT what we recommend and not part of our HASS guidance. One of the many goals of HASS is to help people who find stray pets quickly,...
HASS: The New Model of Animal Sheltering
Jun 19, 2020 Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been sharing the many changes we’ve made to our operations as a result of the virus and how the outpouring of community support for animals during quarantine has given us the opportunity to reimagine how a community supports its pets. We are thrilled to announce that a coalition of leaders from animal welfare organizations all across the country, including Austin Pets Alive!, has just launched the Human Animal Support Services (HASS) project in 30 pilot cities. The project is led by...
Introducing Dog N’ Dash: Instantaneous Lifesaving
Jun 12, 2020 Meet Bertha: A shy, but sweet, dog with floppy ears and beautiful brown eyes. Bertha struggled to cope in her previous shelter. She became depressed, shut down, and fearful of people. As Coronavirus swept through the nation, the shelter could no longer provide the intensive care and attention Bertha needed and resorted to placing her on the euthanasia list. Thanks to Dog N’ Dash, Bertha’s story didn’t end there. COVID-19 took its toll on animal shelters everywhere. In response, Austin Pets Alive! developed and...
How You Can Help Our Parvo Puppies
Feb 07, 2020 Over the past 24 hours, we have been inundated with offers to help our Parvo ICU and we are so sincerely grateful. This unit is near and dear to my heart because it started in my house before APA! had a building. I know first-hand how hard of a job it is and how overwhelming it can seem when the puppies need so much care as well as medical treatment in order to survive. Since those early days, the Parvo ICU has treated a whopping 5,200 puppies with a live release rate of 85%, which is often better than even what private practice...
Austin City Council Votes to Add No Kill Practice to City Animal Code
Oct 17, 2019 Today was a giant step forward for the animals of Austin- and all of those around the country too. Two historic measures took place that now institutionalize saving lives. Probably the most important thing that the No Kill Movement, driven by the will of pet lovers everywhere, must do is eradicate the broken institution of catching and then killing pets in “shelters” – a practice and policy that has existed for over 100 years. Every government funded shelter in America knows how to catch and kill because it is...
Moving Forward: Maintaining No Kill Through Measurement
Aug 07, 2019 Yesterday, the City of Austin announced that they chose Don Bland to be the next Chief Animal Services Officer. As you know, this is a hiring process that we have been critical of and that we believe highlighted some gaps in the way our city is planning to sustain No Kill. Obviously, Don is not responsible for that and needs to be given the opportunity to succeed here. Today, we fully commit to doing everything we can to make Don and Austin Animal Center (AAC) successful. We left our recent conversations with city leadership...
A Letter from Dr. Jefferson: Common Misconceptions of No Kill Shelter Influx
Jun 28, 2019 For the last 8 years, the City of Austin has been the largest No Kill City in America, where 97.5% of the animals that enter Austin Animal Center’s (AAC) doors leave alive. Even though we as a city have been extremely successful in saving lives, AAC is going through a difficult time with a 20% increase in animal intake between 2018 and 2019. AAC is currently facing a “space crisis,” meaning every kennel is inhabited by one or more pets and there is no space for incoming animals. Each summer, like in most...
Myth vs Fact: How We Pick Our Creative Cat Names!
Jun 06, 2019 Due to a viral tweet, the talk of the town has been our, as many have put it, eclectic cat names. You may have seen the tweet which simply asks, “Who is in charge of naming the poor kittens at Austin Pets Alive!?” Some of the cats featured in this tweet have the names of Atomic Toaster, iPad 4, Glycolysis 6, and Unicycle 7 – safe to say those aren’t the typical cat names you’re used to hearing. The tweet led to many people digging through our adoptable cats and picking out the names they found to be...
Radiant Plumbing & Air Conditioning Commits to $20k in Pledged Improvements at APA!
Apr 22, 2019 Austin Pets Alive! (APA!) is pleased to announce that Radiant Plumbing & Air Conditioning has committed to a year-long sponsorship of Austin Pets Alive! that provides $20,000 in services to help APA! make improvements to its shelter facilities. Radiant has been a long time supporter of Austin Pets Alive! and has consistently stepped up to provide and/or donate necessary work and improvements to both the Town Lake Animal Center and the Tarrytown Adoption Center. “I am so thankful for Radiant’s continued generosity...
Historic No Kill Resolution Passes in Austin City Council
Mar 29, 2019 AUSTIN, TX — Austin City Council voted unanimously in favor of a historic resolution to raise the minimum live release rate for the city to maintain No Kill status from 90 percent to 95 percent yesterday on March 28. You can read the signed resolution here. This resolution ensures that as the City of Austin works to maintain its status as the largest No Kill city in the country, a minimum of 95 percent of homeless animals who enter shelters must leave alive. This is the first resolution of its kind and is the highest...
