Item 8 - Spay-Neuter Draft Recommendation — original pdf

Backup

Recommendation The Animal Advisory Commission recommends that updates be made to contracts regarding the provision of spay-and-neuter services. Description of Recommendation to Council The Austin Animal Advisory Commission recommends that the Austin City Council and the Austin City Manager’s Office update the terms of the City’s contracts that govern the provision of spay-and-neuter services in order to expand access to these services to meet the growing needs of the community and to reduce the number of animals entering the shelter system. The Commission recommends that these updates include: 1) Adding performance measures for the minimum number of spay-neuter surgeries to be provided, broken down by animal type (dog/cat), sex (male/female), and size with regards to dogs (large breed/small breed). 2) Allocating funding for spay-neuter services separately from funds dedicated to the provision of wellness services such as vaccines, microchips, and other veterinary care not directly related to animals receiving spay-neuter surgeries. 3) Incorporating quarterly reporting requirements with updates to be delivered in person to the Austin Animal Advisory Commission. Basis for Recommendation The provision of spay-and-neuter services is an integral part of maintaining Austin’s status as a No-Kill community, and contracts for the provision of these services must be updated to account for dynamic and growing community needs. These suggested updates are intended to help ensure that funding for spay- neuter is spent where those needs are greatest and to keep the public informed by providing for reporting requirements.