Jan 30, 2024
Austin, we are able to do higher.
Final week, we shared a promise to assist our neighborhood higher perceive how Austin animal welfare is evolving as a result of it’s our obligation to guard what’s humane and proper and advocate for progress.
With that promise in thoughts, I’m writing immediately to offer some latest updates a few decision that can have an effect on Austin animals. This decision is on the agenda for the February 1 metropolis council assembly. We’ve got been on prime of this since we first heard mutterings of it over the vacations and have been gratefully working hand in hand with town supervisor to assist mitigate any unintended penalties.
This decision tackles 4 important topics. You’ll be able to learn extra right here. Just one was probably dangerous, if not amended, however we imagine the modification supplied by the Mayor at immediately’s work session is spot on. Right here’s a fast recap of the merchandise, what we’re maintaining a detailed eye on and what it will possibly imply for canines in Austin.
The decision seeks to vary the ordinance from the present legislation that permits town to euthanize a canine with out giving discover to teams like APA! first:
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From a canine that causes extreme damage requiring stitches to a canine that causes punctures as deep as half the canine tooth of a canine.
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From requiring that the canine chew be unprovoked to incorporate all bites, provoked and unprovoked.
We wish to be clear that we aren’t categorically opposed to those modifications. We strongly imagine that our neighborhood deserves security, and we all know that not all canines are protected for folks and different animals to be round. We work laborious to make sure security by means of our personal programming. And generally, we are going to humanely euthanize a canine that we can’t make protected.
It is a difficult topic for any metropolis to deal with. We all know that the Metropolis Council Members are in a tricky place as a result of they wish to present effort towards serving to the individuals who have been bitten by canines in our neighborhood.
Nevertheless, we wish to be certain that the info getting used to find out whether or not or not a canine is protected is correct. Three components give us sturdy motive to imagine that there’s work wanted to be performed to make sure town can be working with right info.
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final 12 months’s information provides uncertainty. If this code had been enacted final 12 months, the info we acquired figuring out canines who got here to us as a part of the No Kill partnership and would have been euthanized with out our means to take them, contained canines that didn’t meet the Degree 4 standards. There was solely ONE chew documented as deep as half of a canine tooth, and one canine didn’t have any bites on document in any respect.
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The information they’re utilizing to justify the necessity for this ordinance change is probably not factually correct. About 18 months in the past, town of Austin eliminated the class designated explicitly for lower-level bites, which suggests many canines with any kind of conduct ranking are being included within the average or extreme rankings, even when they don’t have chew histories at degree 4 and above on the Dunbar scale. We wish to confirm that whole bites went up, not only a push of 1 class to the others.
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The Metropolis of Austin’s Animal Companies underwent an Audit that lasted properly over a 12 months. The auditors said, “We discovered it (the AAC) typically has conflicting or inaccurate info, or no info in any respect.” This has not been rectified but.
We’re grateful that our issues outlined above have been
heard and that an modification for the six-month extension has been made.
And we hope it passes on Thursday. If it have been as much as us, here’s what we
would advocate occur over these six months to actually perceive any
enhance and mitigate it:
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Get into the neighborhood:
Create a focused plan for the areas the place canines that chew stay and do an
training plan on neutering, applicable pet socialization and chew
consciousness. On the similar time, provide fencing help for homeowners of canines
that repeatedly get free and prioritize canine consumption into the shelter
from these areas. This would supply assets to areas in Austin that
are in want, create safer canines and restrict reactive punitive measures. -
Verification of information
offered by metropolis employees at Council Work Session. It’s important that
any information offered, particularly 12 months to 12 months, is really apples to apples.
Bottomline: We assist the idea of
utilizing a scientific strategy to eradicating canines which might be really harmful
from our neighborhood. We simply need town to make use of correct and thoroughly
examined information when making life-and-death selections.
We’ve got watched our metropolis animal providers battle to care
for our neighborhood, look after sheltered animals and hold No Kill over the
final three years. We aren’t trying to blame. We simply need ahead
momentum. If this had gone into impact with out the six-month pilot section
that the mayor requested for, we imagine that our metropolis would have taken
one other step backward.
The muse of No Kill is constructed on transparency,
accountability and treating each animal as a person, and we should always
try to keep up that.
Proper now, we don’t want emails or talking on the council assembly however please fill out this survey. We plan to share the info with council places of work to allow them to see higher what our neighborhood wants.
Thanks,
Dr. Ellen Jefferson
