Item 2: AAS Monthly Report and Updates — original pdf

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Reports and Updates Reports and Updates Austin Animal Services | November 10, 2025 Monthly Reporting October 2025 Jason Garza, Assistant Director Animal Services October The live outcome rate for October was 95.03%. 436 animals were adopted 92 dogs and cats were returned to their owners October 1, 2025 1253 animals in the AAS inventory November 1, 2025 1280 animals in the AAS inventory 3 Animal Protection Field Data Field Return to Owner (RTO) Fencing Applications Impounded Injured Impounded Regular or Sick Rabies Specimens In-Field Owner Surrenders 8 10 17 65 45 0 Sent to Austin Wildlife Rescue 38 Positive Specimens 10 bats 4 decomposed bats 3 destroyed bats Exposure Reports 296 Activities Breakdown 6 wild sick 1 incidents 1 wild injured 21 sightings 1 encounter 1 wild speaks 3 observations 4 Wildlife Coyotes Coyote Related Activities 34 Volunteering Hours Overview Social Media Hours Per Activity M/L Dog Walking: 2,087.23 Small Dog Kennel Cleaning 340.67 Cat Kennel Cleaning 922.25 • 550 volunteers contributed 7,762.55 hours • 6 orientations, introducing 103 potential volunteers • 7 Community Service Restitution individuals to perform 63.5 hours • 130 volunteers dedicated 352.42 hours to volunteer development and onboarding training • 19 individuals donated 38 hours toward group service, through dog-walking and cat care Facebook • 850,000 page views • 224,000 unique individuals • 27,000 content interactions Instagram • 757,000 page views • 87,000 unique individuals • 29,000 content interactions 5 Foster and Rescue In October, 24 different rescue partners pulled a total of 285 animals from the Austin Animal Center. Highest numbers pulled by rescues were APA (160) and Austin Humane Society (85)  366 different people/families fostered.  As of November 1, there are 348 animals in foster care.  34 animals were a part of Finder to Foster  More than 96 animals were adopted directly from foster care.  131 new foster applications were processed.  There are currently 1168 approved foster care providers. 6 Vet Services  2,212 vaccinations were administered.  37 domesticated animals were euthanized in October.  32 for severe injury, neurological, congenital, suffering, or acute trauma reasons.  2 for court ordered euthanasia, 3 for aggression/public safety risk.  122 animals were transferred for medical reasons to rescue partners.  105 of these animals went to APA!.  10 were puppies with suspected or confirmed parvo.  54 were kittens.  3 visibly pregnant animals (2 dogs, 1 cat) were transferred to APA!.  The number of animals in each litter is unknown to AAS at this time.  9 dogs* were transferred to APA! for behavior reasons *PowerBI data shows that 10 dogs were pulled for behavior by APA, but the actual count is 9. One dog was incorrectly marked as a behavior pull when it was actually a medical pull. This was confirmed with vet staff and behavior team and rescue coords. All 559 spay/neuter surgeries were performed in October in this room. Staffing Shortages and Emergency Triage Vet Services currently has 12 FTEs responsible for vaccinations, record entry, etc. Around this time last year, there were 18 FTEs. intake exams, treatments, Since October 1st, the 12 FTEs have been triaging more emergencies each day than ever before. Both the shortage and the emergencies have impacted every person at the shelter to some degree. 7 Pathways Rescue Placement, Urgent Placement, and Assessment Matrices Rolando Fernandez Jr., Interim Director Rebekha Montie, Program Manager URGENT/RESCUE PLACEMENT LISTS UPDATED PROCESS Urgent Placement List: Updated regularly to inform the public, rescues, stakeholders, and partners. Animals on this list exhibit one or more of the following markers: 1. Behavioral concerns 2. A bite history that does not pose a public safety threat 3. Currently experiencing a poor quality of life Rescue Placement List: This list is updated frequently on the Animal Services website. It is published by the 5th business day each month. Animals on this list exhibit one or more of the following markers: 1. A bite history and/or significant behavioral concerns that pose a threat to public safety if placed with specialized support Animals on RPL are only available to qualified rescue partners with behavioral rehabilitation capabilities. The only outcomes for animals on the RPL are rescue or humane euthanasia. 9 EVALUATION MATRIX UPDATED PROCESS Matrix Rating | Assessments Bennett’s Bite Scale Dunbar Bite Scale Five Freedoms AAS Behavioral Observations AAS Veterinarian QOL Observations Behavioral Euthanasia Risk Assessment: Designed to objectively assess and quantify the severity and risk of the dog’s behaviors that may pose a danger to people, other animals, or the dogs themselves. This tool reviews: 1. History in home and shelter environments 2. Previous reported bites with Dunbar level assigned for each bite 3. Quality of life Who makes the decisions? This process is not taken lightly and is specifically designed to promote transparency, humane treatment, and public safety. As such, many parties are involved: 1. AAS Director, Assistant Director 2. Program Managers (Field Services, Pet Placement, Behavior, Veterinary Services, Marketing, Animal Care) 3. Supervisors from Animal Care, Behavior and Enrichment, and at least one staff veterinarian This matrix has been made public through a memorandum to Mayor, City Council, and Animal Advisory Commissioners. 10 Shelter Buddy Updates on Database Implementation Mary Brown, Program Manager Melissa Pool, Interim Chief Administrative Officer SHELTER BUDDY RFP PROCESS AND ADOPTION TIMELINE 6/2023 – 7/2023 RFP Project Team shadows staff, stakeholders & volunteers and conducts interviews. 9/2023 – 2/2024 RFP is developed and published. Why the change? The program AAS had been using since the 1990s did not renew their contract. Additionally, the program had become customized so extensively, it was no longer usable for simple tasks. 4/2024 – 7/2024 10/2024 – 4/2025 Project team evaluates proposals. ShelterBuddy is identified as recommended vendor. COA begins onboarding process. AAS staff work with vendor to map processes on ShelterBuddy. Staff training begins. 5/2025 AAS launches program. 12 SHELTER BUDDY PROGRESS AAS staff are working together in collaboration with ShelterBuddy developers and programmers. All changes made to the program must be done mindfully to keep the program usable and efficient. Operational Improvements: Access Staff are able to access the software from any location. Processes Several standard procedures have been streamlined. Better internal tracking of animal statuses. Flexibility Increased ability to manage and update features. Outstanding Items: Commission Reports Some reports for monthly reporting are currently unavailable. Two-Way Integration Poor communication between Adopets and Shelterbuddy. Volunteer Access Volunteers are unable to access notes or input observations. Timeline for Improvements 13 Strategic Plan Updates on Dashboard Juany Torres, Program Manager Rolando Fernandez Jr., Interim Director STRATEGIC PLAN PROGRESS Goal January 2026 We have been working towards achieving the goal of publishing a public dashboard that reflects our 5 Year Strategic Plan by January 2026. AAS Marketing and Communications team has begun training on the new platform we plan to use for this dashboard and we have set a cadence of meetings with our CTM team and ESRI external partners. Content is currently being migrated with the hope of having the draft dashboard up for us to work with by end of year. Dashboard Example Austin Climate Equity Plan https://austin-climate-equity-plan- implementation-dashboard- austin.hub.arcgis.com/ 15 STRATEGIC PLAN PROGRESS AND IMPACT In collaboration with the Austin Animal Advisory Commission Strategic Plan Working Group, below is an example of a baseline/benchmark update as will be reflected on the dashboard. Focus Area: Spay and Neuter Goal: Increase the number of free and subsidized spay/neuter surgeries for owned animals Strategy A: Develop and maintain strong partnerships with community organizations and national vendors to expand low-cost spay/neuter services and referral opportunities available within the community Benchmark/Baseline: In Spring/Summer of 2025, AAS submitted a request for information with the goals of increasing the network of providers and expanding capacity for spay and neuter services within the greater Austin community. It was published through a purchasing and procurement process and sent out to vets who specialize in high speed spay and neuter. Only 2 responses were submitted-- Emancipet and Humane Society. To date both of their contracts have been extended to run through January 2026 and aim to execute a new contract with each of these organizations by January 2026.  Emancipet for $1M  Humane Society for $250K We also continue our partnership and collaboration with GoodFix, renewing their second-year option out of their 5-year contract with us for $720K. 16 ROLANDO FERNANDEZ, JR. INTERIM DIRECTOR OF ANIMAL SERVICES Rolando.Fernandez@austintexas.gov REBEKHA MONTIE FIELD SERVICES PROGRAM MANAGER Rebekha.Montie1@austintexas.gov JASON GARZA DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF ANIMAL SERVICES Jason.Garza@austintexas.gov MARY BROWN PET PLACEMENT AND CUSTOMER SERVICE PROGRAM MANAGER Mary.Brown@austintexas.gov MELISSA POOL INTERIM CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER Melissa.Pool@austintexas.gov JUANY TORRES STRATEGIC PLAN IMPLEMENTATION PROJECT MANAGER Juany.Torres@austintexas.gov 17