Apr 03, 2024
Shelters all around the United States are struggling, together with Austin Animal Heart and us proper right here at Austin Pets Alive!. In 2011, Austin grew to become a No Kill neighborhood and has remained so with growing save charges 12 months over 12 months. With the latest metropolis ordinance modifications and AAC’s newest announcement stating that onerous choices could must be made for 20+ canines who volunteers say ought to by no means be in danger, it is secure to say that we’re dealing with the actual likelihood that Austin is dangerously near getting into the fallacious aspect of historical past.
We all know the vast majority of our neighborhood members need Austin to be the most secure metropolis within the nation for shelter pets, which implies greater than protecting animals alive. We all know this to be true after combing via the outcomes of the survey we put out earlier this 12 months and from feedback splashed on many social media posts concerning the issues we’re experiencing proper right here in Austin. We additionally know that there’s quite a lot of blame going round and now we have been a part of that. We imagine that AAC is creating its personal issues and we’re listening to from those that suppose APA! isn’t doing sufficient to assist Austin as a result of we additionally serve animals all through Texas.
It’s true that APA! and AAC don’t at all times see eye to eye. In spite of everything, we’re two fully completely different organizations. AAC is the government-funded metropolis shelter and APA! is a donor-funded nonprofit animal welfare group that has a contract to assist the town by taking in no less than 12% of the pets that come to them yearly. We now have completely different missions, we soak up completely different populations of canines and cats, we even have completely different factors of view at instances relating to delivering providers and medical therapies. However right here’s the place we’re alike. We each have groups of passionate, educated workers and volunteers who really love and need what’s greatest for the animals in our care. We each need pets to seek out adoptive houses and by no means endure. We’re each working in a system that wasn’t made for No Kill and we’re each hurting due to it.
The present mannequin of animal sheltering wasn’t designed with lifesaving in thoughts and it additionally doesn’t serve in the present day’s view of the animal/human relationship. The mannequin regularly finds itself in disaster and if we don’t do one thing completely different we are going to at all times find yourself in the identical spot. The place animal sheltering is in the present day, threatening “laborious choices” (aka killing for house) shouldn’t be the reply. It solely causes extra ache and the issue won’t ever go away. Constructing extra shelters shouldn’t be the reply. Should you constructed a shelter that housed 10,000 animals, I assure you that it will simply be a matter of time earlier than all 10,000 kennels are full and extra animals are lined up on the door. Rescues like APA!, that had been constructed to assist shelters, now being accountable for being a security web for our metropolis shelter by swooping in to take extra animals from Austin isn’t the reply. This ongoing disaster has additionally taught us that the idea of No Kill by itself isn’t the reply. The saving isn’t over till they’re in a house.
We all know why that is occurring and we deeply sympathize with it as we additionally wrestle with shifting pets quick to adoptive houses. Town selected an id of innovation and treating every animal as a person 15 years in the past however the dedication to that id is waning. It’s not sufficient for our metropolis to say “no kill shouldn’t be in danger” when common choices are being made to undermine it. It’s crucial that our metropolis authorities select who they need to be sooner or later. Do they need to be like all the opposite giant cities in Texas, barely hanging on to lifesaving applications or do they need to be just like the Airbnb in a lodge world- breaking out past the historical past and right into a world the place pet guardians, shelter workers and volunteers and pets are happier, extra succesful and extra included. This gained’t occur in a single day and it gained’t be simple however it begins with a call.
Should you’ve been following APA! you recognize that we face comparable struggles as AAC in some ways. And that’s the reason we’re taking a look at methods to resolve issues with out altering who we’re as a company. Our id is strong: We are going to by no means kill for house. Proper now- whereas shelters are full, together with APA!, and since we all know who we’re and what we stand for, now we have chosen to alter our enterprise mannequin – it’s now not attainable to only save pets and rapidly transfer them to adopters. Our personal bottleneck is actual. We are able to select to only shut our doorways and cease serving to others or we are able to select to alter what we accomplish that we can assist different shelters much more. These modifications are usually not simple and we’re making some errors alongside the best way however there is no such thing as a different alternative however change.
The reality is we’re debuting new ideas as a result of we’re in a very laborious state of affairs. That’s why you’re seeing us embarking on a rebuilding marketing campaign that may embrace a hospital, transport hub, a rehabilitation facility and a brand new foster and adopter assist heart, however it gained’t embrace a humongous warehouse full of kennels. We’re additionally shifting towards a extra volunteer-and-foster centric enterprise mannequin. And we’re working laborious to equip and empower our workers to be the beginnings of a real workforce occupation the place our business traditionally has solely equipped “jobs.”
Change occurs when folks work collectively to make it occur. I’m typically requested how the neighborhood can assist past fostering and adopting. You possibly can assist by asking our metropolis leaders to make animal points one in all their high priorities. It’s fairly telling that the town supervisor candidates weren’t requested a single animal query within the discussion board earlier final week.
The plea for assist from the town is the suitable time to not solely step as much as assist them with the house disaster but in addition loudly advocate for, first, the id that embodies the three legged stool of No Kill, Humane Care, and Group Security and, second, the trail to make it so. The progress made in Austin pre-COVID occurred as a result of folks spoke up and contributed concepts and time to assist to maneuver progress.
Should you’d like to make use of your voice to assist shelter pets in Austin, please join to study extra about how one can assist!
