Austin Animal Center facing severe capacity crisis

Austin has been known as a no-kill city when it comes to intake for pets. The situation is so dire, that the AAC is considering euthanasia, but now there is a lot of back and forth about the capacity crisis and what got them here.

AUSTIN, Texas - In a memo sent last week to the mayor and Austin City Council, the head of the Austin Animal Center describes a dire crisis.

"We had 237 more come in in June than we were able to get out. Since I’ve been here we have not been this full," said Don Bland, chief of animal services with the Austin Animal Center.

Partners like Austin Pets Alive! have been able to relieve the AAC in the past. They took in 12 dogs Friday, but the crisis still persists, so much so that the e-word is being brought up.

"Even animals that are suffering, that's the last resort, no one likes to even do that. We don't want to euthanize a healthy animal ever," said Bland.

FOX 7 Discussion: Austin Animal Center at full occupancy

The center's Chief Animal Services Officer Don Bland joins Rebecca Thomas to talk about how the Austin Animal Center is doing while at full occupancy.

APA! said they are concerned about how the shelter is being run. They believe there was a lack of proper planning and failure to adopt better protocols.

"The alarming part is that an animal might lose its life for nothing more than space. Creating a situation where an animal might lose its life just because there is a space crisis is a huge step backwards," said APA! president and CEO Dr. Ellen Jefferson.

APA! said based on city data, there is no reason that adoptions should be so low. They took the city data on intakes and compared them to pre-pandemic levels.

"Thirty-four percent fewer animals came in in June than in June of 2019. They shouldn’t be having a space crisis, if everything is working towards adoption, return to owner and having volunteers," said Jefferson.

Animal shelters filling up across Central Texas

Many shelters say the need for fosters and adopters is at an all-time high as interest has decreased since the beginning of the year.

"Yes, our intake might have dropped but so have our adoptions," said Bland.

FOX 7 Austin spoke with the mayor about what the city is doing to address the capacity crisis. "We have a lot of businesses in the community and others who are trying to elevate this opportunity because we need a lot of homes for pets that are looking for them right now," said Mayor Steve Adler.

Ultimately, everyone's goal is to avoid euthanasia....but how to do it remains uncertain. Bland recommends one easy way, through the community adopting pets.

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