ANIMAL ADVISORY COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING MARCH 14, 2022, 6 PM AUSTIN CITY HALL, Room 1101 301 W. Second St. AUSTIN, TEXAS 78701 Some members of the Commission may be participating by videoconference. The meeting may be viewed online at http://www.austintexas.gov/watch-atxn-live. Public comment will be allowed in-person or remotely by telephone. Speakers may only register to speak on an item once, either in-person or remotely, and will be allowed up to three minutes to provide their comments. For remote participation, registration no later than noon the day before the meeting is required. To register for remote participation, email or call board liaison, Belinda Hare, at Belinda.Hare@austintexas.gov or by phone at 512-978-0565. AGENDA CURRENT BOARD MEMBERS: Craig Nazor, Chair Nancy Nemer, Parliamentarian Palmer Neuhaus Edward Flores Monica Frenden Lotta Smagula Luis Herrera CALL TO ORDER PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL The first 10 speakers signed up prior to the meeting being called to order will each be allowed a three-minute allotment to address their concerns regarding items not posted on the agenda Ryan Clinton, Vice Chair Lisa Mitchell Katie Jarl Dr. Jon Brandes Jo Anne Norton Beatriz Dulzaides a. Review and approval of minutes from the February 14, 2022, Animal Advisory 1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Commission Special Called Meeting 2. BRIEFINGS a. Austin Animal Center and Animal Services Reports. b. COVID Update. 3. OLD BUSINESS: Update, Discussion and Possible Action a. Monthly Reporting of Data. b. Working Group on Off-Leash Dogs. c. Working Group on How to Increase Microchipping in the City of Austin. d. Austin Pets Alive!’s Future at the Town Lake Animal Center and the Maintenance of No Kill in Austin. e. Transferring Austin Animal Center Animals to Other Communities. 4. NEW BUSINESS: Discussion and Possible Action a. Austin Animal Center Satellite Adoption Centers b. Animal Services Budget 5. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS 6. ADJOURNMENT The City of Austin is committed to compliance with the American with Disabilities Act. Reasonable modifications and equal access to communications will be provided upon request. Meeting locations are planned with wheelchair access. If requiring Sign Language Interpreters or alternative formats, please give notice at least 2 days (48 hours) before the meeting date. Please call Belinda Hare at the Animal Services Office, at 512-978-0565, for additional information; TTY users route through Relay Texas at 711. For more information on the Animal Advisory Commission, please contact Board Liaison. Belinda Hare, 512-978-0565 or Belinda.Hare@austintexas.gov
February 2022 February 2022 Animal Services Report AUSTIN ANIMAL SERVICES REPORT Animal Services News • The live outcome percentage for February was 97.3 percent. • A total of 726 animals were brought to the shelter which included 505 dogs, 174 cats, 31 wild animals, 10 rabbits, two guinea pigs, two ferrets, and two chickens. • A total of 434 animals were adopted (264 dogs, 163 cats, and seven small pets). • A total of 123 dogs, cats, and one rabbit were returned to their owners (RTOs and RTO-Adopt). Animal Protection • Animal Protection Officers (APOs) returned 43 animals to their owners in the field. • Officers handed out 17 fencing assistance applications and implanted six microchips. • Officers impounded 95 injured animals and delivered 28 wildlife animals to Austin Wildlife Rescue. • Officers entered 159 rabies exposure reports and submitted 34 specimens for rabies testing. Zero tested positive for rabies. • Coyote Activities: 31 o Sightings 19 o Encounters 6 o Incidents 6 Volunteer, Foster, and Rescue Programs • A total of 216 volunteers donated 2,672 hours of volunteer service. • The Volunteer Coordinators held four orientations for new volunteers, introducing 125 people to the shelter programs. Thirty-nine new volunteers attended their first training or mentor shifts. • 105 animals were adopted directly from foster care. • More than 160 different people/families fostered. February 2022 Animal Services Report • 192 new foster applications were processed. • There are currently 712 members (approved fosters) in the foster program’s GivePulse group. *Note: Fosters that did not indicate they wished to remain active were removed in January. • Three pets died or were euthanized in foster care. • As of March 1 at 11:15 a.m. there were 156 animals in foster care. • 127 dogs, cats, guinea pigs, rabbits, and birds were transferred to 20 local AAC Rescue Partners (compared to 92 animals to 16 partners for February 2021). • 60 dogs were transported to five out-of-state AAC Rescue Partners. • Five owner surrender appointments were posted to local AAC Rescue partners for intake deferral option. Vet Services • AAC vets performed 764 vet exams. • AAC vets spayed/neutered 363 animals; 99 percent of available animals have been sterilized. • Zero visibly pregnant animals were spayed. • 49 emergency cases were treated at AAC. • 37 emergencies were transferred from the emergency clinic. • The emergency clinic bill for February was $30,593. • …
AAC Budget Consideration Satellite Adoption Centers Growth The Austin Animal Center is the only municipal shelter serving Travis County - 900 sq miles with a population of 1.3 million people* and an annual growth rate of 2.06% (27, 382 people). The metro area is 2.2M in 2022. *Census - April 2020 Infrastructure Growth in Austin/Travis County happened with little change in infrastructure, and AAC’s out-of-the way location on the far east side of Austin makes it challenging for potential adopters. Going at times that should be good adoption times - like week nights - is difficult with traffic. Austin traffic is considered to be some of the worst in the nation. Kennel Space The AAC Levander Loop campus was originally built in 2011 after many years of not passing, or barely passing, State inspections at the Town Lake Animal Center (TLAC) facility. The campus was designed without “no kill” as major factor. With no kill, animals are staying longer so kennels are often full. Large/medium dogs live in kennels that were not designed for months long stays. Solution - Satellite Locations Taking adoptable pets to our citizens follows other municipal shelters that have multiple adoption sites, such as Dallas, Albuquerque and San Antonio. San Antonio - Population 1.4M Satellite locations are City buildings managed by local partner organizations Albuquerque - Population 565K A few locations are managed by partners who support the animal center Dallas - 1.35M PetSmart location houses 50 animals AAC Pets Must Go to the Citizens To make this happen, AAC needs to expand it’s events staff while looking for expansion locations. The events staff can use the AAC mobile adoption bus to take animals to the citizens. Unfortunately, it was purchased years ago with only 2 large dog kennels and medium/large dogs are the majority of the overflow. So volunteers and/or staff will be needed to bring large/medium dogs to the event, while the bus can hold smaller dogs and cats. AAC is the County Shelter Since AAC is the County municipal shelter, the events team can hold adoption events throughout Travis County, selecting dogs that will suit the area, such as family dogs around Lakeway and smaller dogs downtown Supporting Community Animals The events staff can also hold community events to improve the health and safety of pets, taking services into the communities not just an event at AAC. • March 5, 2022 Microchip and …
Answers to questions about ASO February data report submitted by Lotta Smagula, District 1 Representative, Animal Advisory Commission ● On the Animals Euthanized slide, what is the difference between euthanasia for suffering and euthanasia medical? Medical is normally used as a subtype. The primary reasoning is usually suffering and then a subtype is providing for a reason such as sick, medical, toxicity, etc. For the animal that was labeled as a medical reason, it was a sick raccoon found in the field. The APO on duty euthanized the animal and labeled it as medical. ● On the Animals Lost, Stolen or Missing slide, which is it? Lost, stolen, or missing, and was it from the shelter or foster? Missing, lost, or stolen are the primary outcomes, and kennel or foster would be the subtype. We looked into it and saw that lost and stolen are not an option in the primary outcome list. We are having IT add them. When looking at the lost animal from February, we see that it was never impounded but listed as a lost dog in the lost report online. That is a new glitch that we will need to work with IT to address. ● On the SNR Program slide, what is the difference between cat and adult cat? Everything is counted as a cat. In the ordinance, we needed to break it down by kitten and adult cats. The adult cat designation is to show anything older than six months that went to SNR. ● On the Intact Animals Adopted/Returned to Owner slide, what is the reason for the 8 animals that were adopted out intact? Was it medical, did they not weigh enough? Have follow up spay/neuter appointments been set up with AAC for those animals? There were six animals that were adopted intact. We had three kittens and a puppy that were too young for surgery. One was a 14-year-old Chihuahua with medical issues, and the other is a 14- year-old pit with medical issues.
AAC Meeting Minutes 2021-03-14 REGULAR MEETING APPROVED APRIL 11, 2022 ANIMAL ADVISORY COMMISSION MARCH 14, 2022 MINUTES The Animal Advisory Commission convened for a regular meeting, Monday, March 14, 2022, 6 p.m., in the Boards and Commissions Room 1101 at Austin City Hall. Commission Chair, Craig Nazor, called the meeting to order at 6:01 p.m., conducted a roll call of those in attendance and confirmed a quorum of nine commissioners. He introduced newly appointed Commissioner Kristen Hassen, appointed by Council Member Paige Ellis, District 8. Two commissioners attended the meeting in person, Commissioners Nazor and Smagula. Seven commissioners participated via virtual teleconferencing, including Commissioners Mitchell, Jarl, Norton, Clinton, Herrera, Dulzaides, and Hassen. Commission Members Absent: Palmer Neuhaus, Dr. Nancy Nemer, Edward Flores (Monica Frenden and Dr. Jon Brandes resigned) Staff in Attendance: Animal Services Office: Don Bland, Jason Garza, Belinda Hare; Sarah PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS: GENERAL Virtual: In Person: Pat Valls-Trellis, Budget working group Dr. Ellen Jefferson, Correction, apology regarding misrepresentation Amber Rowland, Data and euthanasia rate 1 AAC Meeting Minutes 2021-03-14 1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Commissioner Jarl moved to approve the minutes from the Animal Advisory Commission Meeting, March 14, 2022. Commissioner Norton seconded the motion which passed unanimously, 9 to 0, with all Commissioners in attendance voting approval: Nazor, Smagula, Norton, Jarl, Dulzaides Mitchell, Hassen, Herrera and Clinton. 2. BRIEFINGS a. Austin Animal Center and Animal Services Reports b. COVID Update 3. OLD BUSINESS: Update, Discussion and Possible Action a. Monthly Reporting of Data b. Working Group on Off-Leash Dogs No action. No action. No action. Kill No action. No action. c. Working Group on How to Increase Microchipping in the City of Austin d. Austin Pets Alive!’s Future at the Town Lake Animal Center and the Maintenance of No e. Transferring Austin Animal Center Animals to Other Communities 4. NEW BUSINESS: Discussion and Possible Action a. Austin Animal Center Satellite Adoption Centers No action. b. Animal Services Budget Commissioner Smagula proposed a working group to look at Austin Animal Center’s budget; Commissioner Norton seconded the motion. The proposal failed by a vote of six to 0 with Commissioners Jarl and Hassen abstaining. Commissioner Clinton exited the meeting and did not vote. 5. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS Commissioners agreed to retain agenda items under Old Business, 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, and 3e. Commissioner Norton asked about election of officers. 6. ADJOURNMENT Commission Chair Nazor adjourned the meeting without objection at …
