AAC Space Working Group Recommendations Introduction This Animal Advisory Commission Working Group was formed in response to Chief Don Bland’s memo citing a space crisis at Austin Animal Center which may lead to the euthanasia of animals. This workgroup is seeking Council support to enact the below recommendations in response to Austin Animal Center’s space crisis statement. These are initial recommendations we ask be implemented immediately while we continue to analyze data. Additional recommendations may follow. Surgical delays prevent animals from leaving the shelter at earliest opportunity Spay/Neuter surgery appears to be the single greatest source of bottleneck at AAC with up to 65% of available in-shelter dogs not sterilized when they are available for adoption. This means the adopted pet cannot leave immediately; the adopter must go back and forth to the shelter; and ASO staff must interface with the same adopter multiple times. This is highly inefficient and leads to significant length of stay and space issues. AAC reports medical staffing shortages prevent this; however, data (below) conclusively shows that AAC presently has 83% of the maximum veterinarians and 90% of the maximum vet techs it has ever had, despite only taking in 36% of its traditional intake. Simply put, AAC has nearly full maximum medical personnel but one-third its normal intake. The backlog of surgeries is an operational problem, not a staff shortage. The below recommendations do not increase the number of surgeries needed at AAC, but are an operational change to increase efficiency and alleviate space challenges. Recommendation: Rapid medical make-ready ● Within 48 hours of ownership transferring to AAC, the eligible animal (of appropriate age and health) will be sterilized. ● If AAC is behind in sterilizing AAC owned animals, they will be given 48 additional hours to catch-up and bring all eligible AAC-owned animals to sterilized status, or an adopted animal is to be released to the adopter with a spay/neuter voucher. ○ During the additional 48 hours no animal may be euthanized for space. ● If medically unable to be sterilized, and the animal is 8 weeks of age or older, a memo should be entered in Chameleon to explain the delay and give an estimated date of surgery clearance. ● AAC vets should be trained on high volume spay/neuter techniques, if not already, to increase efficiency. ● Current backlogged surgeries should be caught up within one month through the use of available …
Transport Process Overview Secure Tentative out-of-state Rescue Partnerships Secure ground transporter Work with partner rescue to tag dogs Stage dogs for transport loading (day of or day before transport) Prepare Health Certificates, to-go meds, and paperwork Make tagged dogs unavailable (ideally place in short-term foster care) Load transport vehicle + paperwork Track dogs through transport and receipt at partner Share adoption success stories
Versión en español a continuación. Animal Advisory Commission Meeting Monday, August 9, 6 p.m. Animal Advisory Commission Meeting to be held Monday, August 9, 6 p.m., with Social Distancing Modifications Public comment will be allowed via telephone; no in-person input will be allowed. All speakers must register in advance (Sunday, August 8, by noon). All public comment will occur at the beginning of the meeting. To speak remotely at the August 9 Animal Advisory Commission Meeting, members of the public must: • Call or email the board liaison, Belinda Hare, phone 512-978-0565 or email Belinda.Hare@austintexas.gov, no later than noon on Sunday, August 8. Email works best. The following information is required: speaker name, general communication, or agenda item number(s) they wish to speak on, whether they are for/against/neutral, email address and telephone number (must be the same phone number that will be used to call into the meeting). • Once a request to speak has been made to the board liaison, the information to call on the day of the scheduled meeting will be provided either by email or phone call. • Speakers must call in at least 15 minutes prior to meeting start time in order to speak; late callers will not be accepted and will not be able to speak. • Speakers will be placed in a queue until their time to speak. • Handouts or other information may be emailed to Belinda.Hare@austintexas.gov by noon the day before the scheduled meeting. This information will be provided to Board and Commission members in advance of the meeting. • If the meeting is broadcast live, it may be viewed here: http://www.austintexas.gov/page/watch-atxn-live Reunión del Animal Advisory Commission la junta en 512-978-0565 or FECHA de la reunion (Monday, August 9, 6 p.m.) La junta se llevará con modificaciones de distanciamiento social Se permitirán comentarios públicos por teléfono; no se permitirá ninguna entrada en persona. Todos los oradores deben registrarse con anticipación (Sunday, August 8, noon, antes del mediodía). Todos los comentarios públicos se producirán al comienzo de la reunión. Para hablar de forma remota en la reunión, los miembros del público deben: • Llame o envíe un correo electrónico al enlace de Belinda.Hare@austintexas.gov a más tardar al mediodía (el día antes de la reunión). Se requiere la siguiente información: nombre del orador, número (s) de artículo sobre el que desean hablar, si están a favor / en contra / neutral, dirección de …
July 2021 July 2021 Animal Services Report ANIMAL SERVICES REPORT Animal Services News • The live outcome percentage for July was 96.6 percent. • A total of 1,336 animals were brought to the shelter which included 640 dogs, 643 cats, 46 wild animals and seven birds. • A total of 850 animals were adopted (397 dogs, 453 cats and 15 small pets) • A total of 126 dogs and cats were returned to their owners (RTOs and RTO-Adopt). Animal Protection month of July. • Animal Protection Officers (APOs) returned 39 animals to their owners in the field during the • Officers handed out 38 fencing assistance applications, impounded 189 injured animals and delivered 110 wildlife animals to Austin Wildlife Rescue. • Officers entered 247 rabies exposure reports and submitted 30 specimens for rabies testing. Two bats tested positive for rabies. • 30 total coyote related activities o 14 sightings o 8 wild sick reports of mange o 3 wild injured o 2 observations o 2 incidents o 1 wild speak • Out of 30 coyote related activities, 17 fell within the reported behavior types (sighting, encounter, and incident). Incidents: Pets were a factor in both activities: • o 1 incident involved two coyotes going after a small dog with person present in fenced backyard o 1 incident involved a coyote taking a off-leash cat in fenced backyard Volunteer, Foster and Rescue Programs • A total of 105 volunteers donated 1,895 hours during July. July 2021 Animal Services Report • The Volunteer Program held its first special orientation session for those who signed up to volunteer during the pandemic and are in the process of getting those new volunteers onboarded with mentor shifts. • More than 250 families provided foster care, and a total of 138 animals were adopted directly from foster care. • There are 1,205 approved fosters in GivePulse, and 130 new foster applications were processed. • There are currently 374 animals in foster homes. • 267 animals were transferred to 21 AAC rescue partners: o 135 cats ▪ 7 to Austin Humane Society (AHS) ▪ 128 to Austin Pets Alive! (APA!) o 66 dogs ▪ 65 to APA! ▪ 1 to AHS • Partner pulls are down significantly when compared to 2019 data. APA! transferred a total of 403 animals in July 2019 compared to a total of 193 in July 2021. AHS transferred a total of 195 …
Austin Animal Center Response To Space Working Group The purpose of this document is to provide a response from Animal Services Office (ASO) to the Space Working Group Recommendations from the Animal Advisory Commission. ASO staff greatly appreciates the recommendations presented by the Animal Advisory Commission’s Working Group as input and involvement are vital to the success of our programs. Staff would like to recognize the working group members for their time and commitment to the success of the program. From our ASO staff perspective, the following factors are the greatest contributors to space issues: • Long-stay medium and large dogs • Intake of “owned” strays • Decline in pulls from partners • Lack of microchipped pets Analyzed data from July 2019 to July 2021 (below) indicates a decline in pulls from our rescue partners. While all shelters throughout the southern United States have been experiencing over-capacity issues, this decrease in partner pulls has had an impact on ASO. July 1, 2019, July 1, 2021 1196 1402 849 270 1514 1046 96.79 1258 1882 847 653 1847 1304 96.33 Beginning animal count Intake Adoptions Transfers Total outcomes Ending animal count Live Exit rate *Data is from Best Friends/MMHP Report Over the last decade, space concerns have been a recurring issue since the Austin Animal Center (AAC) achieved No Kill status. This is the case for any high performing No Kill shelter. In late 2018, AAC staff placed animals in popup crates throughout the building due to an overflow of animals. In March 2019, press releases were sent out to address the issue and ask the public for help. In August 2019, then interim Chief Animal Services Officer, Kimberly McNeeley, sent a memo to Mayor and Council to address another space crisis. Austin Pets Alive! (APA!), the Austin Humane Society (AHS), and other rescue partners helped by pulling animals during these times. The memo sent this year was to communicate again that the Austin Animal Center was passed capacity for space for medium to large dogs. The COVID-19 pandemic changed life for the entire community. With the limitations the pandemic imposed on the City and the AAC, staff saw opportunities to assess our processes and adapt them to the uncertainty of the time. AAC closed to the public and volunteers in March 2020, but the work of maintaining the shelter continued. Although the City was locked down, animals continued to come …
AAC Space Working Group Recommendations Introduction This Animal Advisory Commission Working Group was formed in response to Chief Don Bland’s memo citing a space crisis at Austin Animal Center which may lead to the euthanasia of animals. This workgroup is seeking Council support to enact the below recommendations in response to Austin Animal Center’s space crisis statement. These are initial recommendations we ask be implemented immediately while we continue to analyze data. Additional recommendations may follow. Surgical delays prevent animals from leaving the shelter at earliest opportunity Spay/Neuter surgery appears to be the single greatest source of bottleneck at AAC with up to 65% of available in-shelter dogs not sterilized when they are available for adoption. This means the adopted pet cannot leave immediately; the adopter must go back and forth to the shelter; and ASO staff must interface with the same adopter multiple times. This is highly inefficient and leads to significant length of stay and space issues. AAC reports medical staffing shortages prevent this; however, data (below) conclusively shows that AAC presently has 83% of the maximum veterinarians and 90% of the maximum vet techs it has ever had, despite only taking in 36% of its traditional intake. Simply put, AAC has nearly full maximum medical personnel but one-third its normal intake. The backlog of surgeries is an operational problem, not a staff shortage. The below recommendations do not increase the number of surgeries needed at AAC, but are an operational change to increase efficiency and alleviate space challenges. Recommendation: Rapid medical make-ready ● Within 48 hours of ownership transferring to AAC, the eligible animal (of appropriate age and health) will be sterilized. ● If AAC is behind in sterilizing AAC owned animals, they will be given 48 additional hours to catch-up and bring all eligible AAC-owned animals to sterilized status, or an adopted animal is to be released to the adopter with a spay/neuter voucher. ○ During the additional 48 hours no animal may be euthanized for space. ● If medically unable to be sterilized, and the animal is 8 weeks of age or older, a memo should be entered in Chameleon to explain the delay and give an estimated date of surgery clearance. ● AAC vets should be trained on high volume spay/neuter techniques, if not already, to increase efficiency. ● Current backlogged surgeries should be caught up within one month through the use of available …
AAC Meeting Minutes 2021-08-09 REGULAR MEETING APPROVED September 13, 2021 ANIMAL ADVISORY COMMISSION AUGUST 9, 2021 The Animal Advisory Commission convened, via video conferencing, for a Regular Meeting, Monday, August 9, 2021, 6 p.m. Commission Chair Craig Nazor called the meeting to order at 6:02 p.m., conducted a verbal roll call of those in attendance and confirmed a quorum of 10 commissioners. Commission Members in Attendance: Craig Nazor, Nancy Nemer, Lisa Mitchell, Ryan Clinton, Katie Jarl, Palmer Neuhaus, Monica Frenden, Jo Anne Norton, Lotta Smagula, and Luis Herrera. Commission Members Absent: Dr. Jon Brandes, Edward Flores, and Yolanda Rodriguez Pacheco were absent. Staff in Attendance: Don Bland, Jason Garza, Sarah Murphy, Dr. Kathryn Lund, Mark Sloat, Belinda Hare CITIZEN COMMUNICATIONS: Christopher Summers Beverly Luna Kathy Mitchell Pat Valls-Trellis 1 AAC Meeting Minutes 2021-08-09 1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Commissioner Jarl moved to approve the minutes from the Animal Advisory Commission Special Called Meeting, July 19, 2021, and Commissioner Smagula seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously, 10 to 0, with all Commissioners in attendance voting approval: Nazor, Clinton, Mitchell, Nemer, Jarl, Neuhaus, Frenden, Norton, Smagula and Herrera. Commissioners Dr. Brandes, Flores, and Rodriguez Pacheco were absent. 2. STAFF BRIEFINGS a. Austin Animal Center and Animal Services Reports b. COVID Update c. Update on Austin Animal Center Rescue and Transport Program d. Update on status of the license agreement between the City and Austin Pets Alive! e. Update on how to maintain No-Kill and meet Council directives if Austin Pets Alive! license agreement is substantially changed 3. OLD BUSINESS a. Update, Discussion and Possible Action on Comparative Evaluations of Monthly Release Rates No action. No action. No action. No action. b. Update, Discussion and Possible Action on Monthly Reporting Data c. Update, Discussion and Possible Action from Working Group on Off-Leash Dogs d. Update, Discussion and Possible Action from Working Group on How to Increase Microchipping in the City of Austin e. Update, Discussion and Possible Action on Placement Partner Transfer Agreement f. Update. Discussion and Possible Action regarding Shelter Space Issues Working Group Commissioner Neuhaus moved to submit the Working Group’s recommendations to address the Austin Animal Center’s space crisis and asked for additional monthly reports on the following: the numbers of animals pled to Austin Pets Alive! for medical reasons and declined; the number of animals hospitalized and length of hospitalizations; and the outside vendors, costs, which animals receive medical services …
Animal Advisory Commission Report Q2 2021 This report is intended to give a high level overview of Austin Pets Alive!’s lifesaving operations, with a focus on APA!’s impact on Travis county through our partnership with Austin Animal Center. Summary: Austin Pets Alive! (APA) continues to be the city of Austin’s largest partner in lifesaving and the largest subsidizer of the city’s budget to serve Austin animals. APA takes animals that have medical and behavioral issues that require a higher cost per animal than the average healthy animal in care. APA focuses on these animals in an effort to have a measurable effect on the live release rate at AAC. In June alone, of all animals transferred from Austin Animal Center to partners, APA took 77% and over 200 times the number taken by the other brick and mortar shelter in Austin. APA’s cost to care for the animals pulled this past quarter was approximately $500,000-$750,000. These numbers are currently being validated through an external agency and will be reflected as accurately as possible in future reports. APA receives no funding from the City of Austin but does receive use of the TLAC property, which if on the rental market could reasonably expect to receive $8 per square foot, per year in rent for the use, condition and location that it is in (ie $100,000 per quarter). APA!, therefore, contributed between $400,000-650,000 last quarter to subsidize the city’s budget to serve Austin animals. APA’s mission is to eliminate the unnecessary killing of shelter animals. Over the last 10 years of the license agreement, the role of APA’s support at AAC has shifted away from lifesaving and into serving as “overflow” for AAC, serving many animals that should not be at risk of euthanasia in the city’s publicly-funded shelter. The Austin Animal Center has received an increase in budget of more than 10 million dollars since 2010 and many supports have been put in place over the years by Austin City Council. APA is 100% committed to continuing to serve as a safety net for animals that cannot be saved through tax payer dollars and is currently negotiating a license agreement that more accurately reflects the mission of APA and the responsible utilization of all funds put towards animals, whether they are donated or tax funded. AAC Transfers in June 2021 (from AAC report): 256 animals were transferred to 24 AAC rescue …
