Call to Action for No Kill Sustainability

Oct 11, 2019

APA! has been an important driver of No Kill in Austin and, even though we are 11 years into that journey and have accomplished so much, there is still critical work that needs to be done. Right now, we need your help to implore our city government to document how No Kill works in Austin so that it is protected. The only intent of this code amendment is to document what is currently, or very recently has been, the internal processes of the city.

Much like our beautiful springs, if we lose No Kill in Austin, we will likely never get it back. Our No Kill sustainability is so fragile, as demonstrated by recent events. This is worth the time to fight for and we can’t do it alone.

Next week, on October 17th at 10 a.m, the Council will hear Item 25, the ordinance that will, for the first time ever, codify some of the most basic measurements and policies that culminate in our city being the largest No Kill City in the country. You can see the City Council Agenda and back up documents here*.

Just like last month, it is essential that we show a strong community support for this by as many of us as possible emailing and calling Council offices, registering in support at City Hall, and showing up for the meeting on the 17th. You can sign up here to keep getting more info from APA! on talking points, instructions for registering, and being present. No need to sign up again if you already did for the last council meeting or since.

Here is the basic information: Item 25: Approve an ordinance amending City Code Title 3 and City Code Section 2-1-102 relating to: (a) impounded animal regulations - adding definitions, requiring core immunizations, mandating sterilization, addressing fee waivers, requiring notice to rescue organizations and revising reporting requirements; and (b) expanding advisory scope of the Animal Advisory Commission, respectively.

Sponsors: Council Member Leslie Pool, Council Member Ann Kitchen, Mayor Steve Adler, Council Member Kathie Tovo.

I’ll reiterate that this is so important because we have had turnover of nearly all leadership in Austin between animal protection and City Council. The Animal Services Department has zero checks and balances in place to ensure that new leadership understands and protects how we reach and maintain No Kill so we can keep achieving the astounding numbers that we have achieved so far. This amendment documents and solidifies some of the critical practices that have been largely personality driven in the past so that they become part of the regular business operations of our city shelter. These are specifically called out in the item description, but I’ll tell you why they are so important:

• Definitions: This defines and documents how to calculate the Live Release Rate. This seems so simple, but when not documented, it can be calculated many different ways. Some of those ways were created to prevent transparency, and therefore brings about subsequent scrutiny from the public, by not showing dead animals as dead animals, which is a huge problem. Having this documented means there will never be ambiguity on how many animals have died in our city shelter and that the city will always be transparent on this incredibly important measure.
• Core Immunizations: This city has been through at least two distemper outbreaks in dogs, as well as calici and panleukopenia outbreaks in cats, in the last 10 years. Invariably, when that happens, there has been a breakdown in the SOPs that require staff to administer vaccinations to incoming animals literally the minute they step in the door of the shelter. These core vaccines are critical because if the shelter is suddenly full of morbidly ill animals, adoptions and rescue transfers grind to a halt and the death rate for disease and space goes way up. Requiring core immunizations is fundamental to No Kill, and being documented means it will stay that way.
• Mandating Sterilization: This will require the shelter to spay/neuter any animal after the second impoundment of it. Since the owner has proven to be a “repeat offender” and would eliminate the possibility of the animal reproducing while roaming which, in turn, should help prevent oops litters.
• Fee Waivers: Documenting that this is a requirement will prevent any animal from being killed when an owner wants it back but can’t afford the fee. This does not mean that the shelter must return an animal if the animal has served the stray hold; but it does mean that fees cannot be used as a reason to keep and kill (sadly that does happen in shelters but not here, and this will make it stay that way).
• Notice to Rescue Organizations: This is CRITICAL to Austin remaining a No Kill City and is what has jeopardized it recently. This requires any director to offer any animal to a rescue organization unless it has been documented to be irremediably suffering (as defined in the code) or documented to have caused great harm (also defined). In the past, animals have died that we could have saved, but we were never even given a chance to intervene.
  • Within this section, there was a bit of controversy over the use of the term “in utero” and now that has been removed. The intent of this piece was to ensure that the city has transparency about the needs of the animals in its care. It does not require the city to let pregnant moms give birth but does require that they allow rescue groups to pull them if they have room in their programs.
• Revising Reporting Requirements: The performance metrics for Austin Animal Center have not been updated in many years. The code will now require that metrics backing up how Austin maintains its No Kill status will be reported, such as the number in foster, the number adopted, and the number that died. Performance is often tied to what is measured and this will help keep the Director’s eye on what is needed in the operations to keep achieving No Kill success.
• Expanding the Scope of the Animal Advisory Commission: This is probably one of the most critical pieces of this code change because it empowers someone to take the reports given by the Director and compare them to what is necessary to meet the 95 percent resolution. You’ll recall that a huge worry for APA! was that it wasn’t clear from the City Manager’s office that they would be able to hold the line on No Kill, no matter how hard it got. This empowers the commission to take action by way of a report to council if the numbers show that something is getting off track and it gives the community information which enables community action if needed.

Please help us this one last time to make sure that how we do No Kill now is transparent and sustainable here in Austin.

We know that there will be opposition to codifying the way we are achieving No Kill now because there are some who want changes made to 1. the Shelter-Neuter-Return program for cats and 2. Rescue access for the dogs who have caused great harm. We understand their concerns and also want this to be the beginning of dialogue to make improvements to the processes that save lives (improvements have been made every year but often not publicly).

However, right now, the most important step this council can take to ensure long term sustainability is approve this item. It will create immediate stability and allow a much greater transparency on government processes and performance measures which will, in turn, ensure that the public is able to lobby for vital improvements.

Don’t forget to sign up here!

And please thank Council Member Leslie Pool, Ann Kitchen, Kathie Tovo, and Mayor Adler for spearheading this item! They took our concerns seriously and have turned them into important and meaningful action.

*The backup documents will be updated after the Animal Advisory Commission meeting on Monday, Oct 14th. That meeting occurs at 6 PM at City Hall (across the hall from city council chambers where we were last month). They will be reviewing amendments from the various council offices (the “in utero” language and other unobjectionable changes) and then once they approve a newer version, that will go back to Council for the vote on the 17th. Please use the form from above if you can join me at that as well and we will send instructions.

With gratitude and eyes on the future,

Dr. Ellen Jefferson, Executive Director of Austin Pets Alive!