When you ask someone about animal rescue in Austin, people often say, "Oh, I love Austin Pets Alive!"
But why? What makes us different?
Austin is a fortunate city. We have our main city shelter (Austin Animal Center) which works tirelessly to take in abandoned or lost pets and bring them to a home. We also have the Austin Humane Society and other great non-profit organizations working with our city's shelter to rescue and work to adopt these pets into the best homes.
Austin Pets Alive! is a tier of animal rescue that is different than any city offers -- alongside our partners in this mission, that's also why we're the largest No-Kill city in the country.
Austin Pets Alive!'s work is to help, as some might say, the Cinderella stories of the rescue world. A non-profit was created to focus on rescuing and rehabilitating the pets who are at the highest risk of euthanasia. Over the past 5 years, we have created programs that acutely address the most common death sentences:
Abandoned newborn kittens are euthanized within hours at city shelters. APA!'s Bottle Baby Kitten program rescues them with a crew of trained volunteers, who bottle feed around the clock until the kittens are old enough to eat on their own and strong enough to be adopted.
Sick dogs and cats are cared for in quarantined areas to protect them -- and other pets -- from dangerous illnesses while our medical clinic works to treat them. These trained veterinarians and clinic technicians help injured and sick pets, whether they were struck by a car or a bad case of Parvovirus.
A highly specialized behavior team works all day, every day, with behaviorally challenged dogs. Each behavior issue is independently evaluated and intensely targeted with behavior plans tailored to each dog. Through on-on-one training, doggy play groups, and Canine Good Citizen classes, real strides are taken to address one of the hardest to conquer and most common reasons for euthanasia.
We house a special area for cats with FeLVthat provide a sanctuary amidst toys and friends and loving staff, as counselors work to find them a home.
Kitties with ringworm aren't euthanized; they're treated for something that can be helped.
Some say that rescue pets are the most loving because they know you saved their life. The pets rescued by APA! and adopted to families take that to another level.
In 2012, over 6,000 of our rescues became someone's best friend. In almost any other city, they would have been euthanized without a chance to get better. That's why we are here.
2013 is the 5th anniversary of Austin Pets Alive!. We are excited to celebrate this anniversary by focusing on 5 different programs that make our non-profit unique. We'll share with you some of the inside stories of each program, why it exists, and what its impact has.
We want to show you who we are. We are funded by people who believe in us, donate funds to keep us going, donate time to volunteer, and open their homes to foster dogs and cats when they can't offer a permanent place. Austin is a community where the lives of companion animals are valued and revered, and we would not be able to continue our mission without the support of you.
As Austin Pets Alive! celebrates a 5th anniversary, our goal is to raise $5,000 for 5 of our life-saving programs. You might not have known some of these even exist! We want to share what they are, what their impact means, and hopefully get your support by donating to keep them going. If you believe in rescuing these animals, we hope you'll donate towards the program that helps them.
Our first program highlight is our Dog Behavior Program. To find out how you can donate (and why!), please click here. You can also follow our website and Facebook page to follow the stories we will be sharing to raise supportive awareness and funds for our city's pets in need.
Perhaps one of these will be your immediate answer to why you love and support Austin Pets Alive!
