Thank you so much to everyone who came out to the Animal Services meeting last night. We're happy to report that it was a huge success and was attended by almost 100 animal lovers, 3 news outlets, the Director of Health and Human Services, and aides to City Council Members. Fox already has their story up. (The quote from Dr. Jefferson is a little misleading on its own. She was speaking about the bottlenecks for getting animals ready for adoption at TLAC and said that there are too few resources now.)
Larry Schooler, the meeting facilitator, started off the meeting reminding everyone that we are all there because we love animals and that everyone wants to see Austin become a no-kill city.
Then, the presentations started.
First, the chair of the Animal Advisory Commission, Larry Tucker, presented the AAC's recommendation to City Council for making Austin a no-kill city. They were directed by City Council to research and report on the best practices in other communities that could make a big impact here in Austin.
Finally, Dorinda Pulliam, the assistant director of TLAC, reported on the ASPCA Mission: Orange program and the progress it has made so far in our community, mostly with prevention or reduction of intake. The ASPCA rep was supposed to present, but was unable to make it last night.
There was much discussion and brainstorming. At the end of the night, the crowed pushed for a vote and voted unanimously for the AAC recommendations AND APA!'s proposal.
We don't know what the vote will actually mean, as the city did not ask for it. However, we are thrilled about the message we sent to the city that the community overwhelmingly wants to see a stronger push to get to no-kill. Thanks again to everyone who came out and gave up a whole evening to help the animals. We will definitely keep you posted on developments.
