Austin City Council Votes to Add No Kill Practice to City Animal Code

Oct 17, 2019

Today was a giant step forward for the animals of Austin- and all of those around the country too. Two historic measures took place that now institutionalize saving lives. Probably the most important thing that the No Kill Movement, driven by the will of pet lovers everywhere, must do is eradicate the broken institution of catching and then killing pets in “shelters” - a practice and policy that has existed for over 100 years. Every government funded shelter in America knows how to catch and kill because it is codified in their laws at the local level, state level and federal level. Now Austin is breaking that cycle and making city mandated rules that mean lifesaving is now the institutionalized way of dealing with homeless pets.

Two incredibly important sections of the ordinance now mean:

• that every animal, with the exception of animals that are irremediably suffering (defined in the code) or have caused severe unprovoked injury to a human (also defined in the code), MUST be pled to rescue groups before being killed or euthanized. This means that every pet has a guaranteed chance at life above and beyond the means of the government funded shelter. Of note: this applies to visibly pregnant animals and their litters as well.
• that the government funded shelter will report metrics on the practices that result in lifesaving to the Animal Advisory Commission. This provides transparency and open communication about what is working and what is not in the drive to keep lifesaving at its highest possible level. It means that, when there is a setback, citizens have a voice to push for improvement comparing data and actual animal information with comparables to previous months of successful outcomes.

We, at Austin Pets Alive!, believe that the vote today is another example of the amazing leadership we see at our City Council and we are especially grateful to Council Members Leslie Pool and Ann Kitchen, as well as their co-sponsors Mayor Adler and Council Member Kathie Tovo, who took the lead on pushing for a sustainable, measurable No Kill Austin. We also thank Council Members Alter, Casar, Ellis, Flannigan, and Garza who voted yes.

With gratitude and eyes on the future,

Ellen Jefferson