Austin Animal Center makes changes to management system years after 2023 audit | FOX 7 Austin

Austin Animal Center makes changes to management system years after 2023 audit

The Austin Animal Center is changing the way it manages city shelters.

This comes years after an audit in 2023 found overcrowding and unsanitary conditions.

RELATED: Audit finds Austin Animal Center jeopardizes mission with poor living conditions

The backstory:

The City of Austin will be training staff to implement a new shelter management system during the next few weeks. The changes are expected to improve efficiency and transparency. 

The city will also extend the time it holds strays to ensure owners have more time to reclaim their pets.

Service will be limited on the following days:

  • Wednesday, April 23
  • Wednesday, April 30
  • Monday, May 5

On those days, the shelter will offer Pet Resource Center walk-up hours from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. and staff will be available to help with emergency intakes, urgent resources, and reclaim services. Adoption services will not be provided.

What they're saying:

"This system is a critical investment in our future," Rolando Fernandez Jr., Interim Chief Animal Services Officer, said. "By improving how we manage data across all shelter operations—from intake and adoption to foster and volunteer coordination—we’re supporting the priorities laid out in our new Strategic Plan, including greater transparency, enhanced public access to information, and a more efficient service model for Austin’s residents and animals."

Austin Animal Center audit in 2023

The backstory:

In 2023, a 100-page audit came at the request of the Austin City Council as the animal shelter continued to deal with intake and overcrowding issues. The audit included words like "filth," "unsafe," and "unsanitary" to describe conditions at the animal shelter.

The audit stated larger animals’ crates did not meet recommended living standards — as outlined in their guidelines that say they must "allow animals to sit, sleep and eat away from areas of their enclosures where they defecate and urinate." The report also found that small dogs were housed in kennels originally intended for cats. 

The findings showed the current level of staffing at the AAC cannot handle the number of animals it cares for. 

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Audit finds Austin Animal Center jeopardizes mission with poor living conditions

FOX 7 has obtained a draft audit that suggests the Austin Animal Center go back to the drawing board to rethink their priorities.

The auditors observed staff looking for shortcuts, moving quickly to clean up after the animals and potentially spraying them with chemical cleaners. The report also noted the staff moved too quickly for the disinfectant cleaners to be effective. 

The auditors visited the center in July 2023 to find the kennel temperatures exceeded the recommended range of 60 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Some of them reached over 100 degrees. The surface of one of the artificial play lawns reached 176 degrees. The audit noted staff laid down towels for the animals. 

The audit also showed photos depicting algae found in water bowls and outdoor play pools, structural issues, trash and other items piled around, and pet food left out in the open.

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'Abhorrent, sickening': City Council reacts to Austin Animal Center audit

Austin City Council members say they are disgusted after an audit revealed disturbing and unsanitary conditions at the Austin Animal Center, the city's municipal animal shelter.

According to the city, the Austin Animal Center serves as an intake shelter to find animals forever homes, but the audit says the shelter continues to stop taking in animals more times than not due to claims of overcrowding.

The audit recommended Don Bland, the Chief Animal Service Officer, develop a plan for the shelter that keeps both indoor and outdoor areas clean, identify resources to address structural issues, and ensure staff and volunteers are trained properly.

The Source: Information from the City of Austin and FOX 7 Austin previous coverage

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