“We are temporarily restricting intake now to ensure we can continue to provide the level of animal care that our community expects,” Chief Animal Services Officer Don Bland said in a statement. “When all animals in our care can be placed in regular kennels instead of relying on temporary pop-up crates, we can fully open again.”
More than 700 animals remain at the shelter even after dozens of departures took place during the national Clear the Shelters adoption event, according to the city's Animal Services Office. A recent tweet from the animal center called said the facility was "overflowing" with hundreds of dogs in need of adoption, the city office said. With every shelter kennel full—including many with multiple occupants—67 dogs there are now being housed in wire pop-up crates, Bland said.
The shelter is currently waiving all adoption fees and plans to hold an adoption event Sept. 17.
“Shelters nationwide are struggling. We really need community members to foster or adopt a dog,” Assistant City Manager Stephanie Hayden-Howard said in a statement. “Maintaining our no-kill status takes a village, and our city shelter can’t do it without you.”
While most new intakes are on hold, the animal center said it would continue accepting animals in emergencies only to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Emergencies include injured animals; bite incidents; and cases in which a pet's owner is evicted, hospitalized or incarcerated.
The September pause marks the fourth time the Austin Animal Center has restricted new intakes since becoming a no-kill shelter in 2011, the city said. Previous pauses came amid overcrowding in 2016 and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Since early 2021, the shelter has continued to experience capacity issues while weathering limited operations related to staffing.
Bland said the shelter continues to maintain its no-kill status with a live outcome rate of more than 97%, above the city's requirement of 95% and a national standard of 90%.
"Staff have been diligently working to reduce intake and keep animals out of the shelter, but there are simply more animals coming into the shelter than we can maintain and get into rescues, foster or adoptive homes," Bland said in a Sept. 12 memo.
The intake restriction comes weeks after City Council heard an update from Bland and city auditors covering several long-term improvements that were recommended through previous city audits. A new follow-up report on those reviews determined two of three top proposals had been rolled out, while a third related to shelter best practices has yet to be fully implemented.
"Animal Services has made some efforts to address the recommendation. However, it appears the city’s animal shelter is still overcrowded, and response times to citizen emergency calls may be untimely," auditors said.
During his discussion with city officials, Bland said some issues stem from the shelter's staffing levels. While Animal Services is set to receive six new staff positions in the next fiscal year to assist with the shelter's weekend operations, Bland also said the office still had 12 vacancies as of mid-August.
