Austin Pets Alive! is expanding! For many years, we've been preparing to rebuild. But not JUST rebuild — reimagine and rebuild. We're tossing out the traditional animal shelter setup and reconstructing APA! in a new way to pave the way for a new model for lifesaving.
Say Yes Alive! Now
Yes Alive! is our ambitious and necessary four-phase building plan to transform the care and lifesaving of at-risk pets in our hometown of Austin — and beyond. For the first time ever, we're calling on all our supporters to help us raise money for FOUR locations. First up, a new APA! Hospital.
Yes Alive! is more than a capital campaign — it’s a comprehensive capacity campaign that will allow us to do more, teach more, and save more than ever before. In the last three years, we have experienced a 20% annual increase in animal intake, all while caring for the most challenging medical and behavioral cases.
Our inspired, successful programs and services are being delivered out of dilapidated, flood-prone, rat-infested facilities that are on the verge of collapse and in desperate need of demolition. Despite being described as “the worst shelter facility in Texas,” we have saved over 120,000 pets in this space. However, No Kill is no longer good enough for us, and we can’t say “yes” to every pet who needs us when our potential is severely limited as a result of our environment.
Thanks to a 75-year lease agreement we recently signed with the City of Austin, we will maintain our presence in downtown Austin at the Town Lake Animal Shelter (TLAC). However, due to the presence of power lines above and water pipes below, we must rebuild in a much smaller footprint than we currently have available to us, even as our operations continue to expand. For that reason, the final phase of the Yes Alive! Comprehensive Capacity Campaign will be to rebuild a smaller adoption and foster service center at TLAC but expand the rest of our operations to the new, additional locations.
Each day, dozens of cats and dogs are rushed to our lifesaving Medical Triage and Wellness Clinic at TLAC from local veterinary hospitals where owners can't afford treatment or from shelters in and around Austin that have severe underfunding because we are these pets’ only alternative to euthanasia. Our veterinary team works around the clock to secure broken limbs, provide CPR, do surgeries as complex as those for open chest trauma, and treat horrible viruses like panleukopenia, parvovirus, and distemper — all in a building infested by rats, at risk for fire and flooding, and crammed into a very small space.
This hospital will allow our medical team to expand the work they do for pets in Austin and have the space to teach other shelters and veterinarians the lifesaving solutions that they know work — giving exponential capacity Texas-wide to save more pets’ lives.
We hope to open the hospital in July 2024, but we need to secure the remaining $1.2 million to do so. We can get there together with your support!
You can give now here, where your gift will be directed toward supporting this urgent project. If you prefer
to give by check, please include “Yes Alive!” in the check memo or with an accompanying note and mail it to our lockbox address:
Austin Pets Alive!
P.O. Box 736245
Dallas, TX 75373-6245
We also accept many other gifts, such as cryptocurrency, donor-advised funds, IRA distributions, stocks, and more, as well as multi-year pledges.
Please contact us at [email protected] to discuss additional ways to give.
Please contact us by emailing [email protected] to schedule a phone call with our Chief of Philanthropy or schedule a virtual group tour.
Regional Shelter Pet Hospital and ICU
A centrally-located regional hospital for sick and injured animals who are treatable, and can live long and happy lives — but who are now losing their lives in shelters.
Regional Lifesaving Transportation Hub
A first-of-its-kind pit stop for cats and dogs coming from shelters where their lives are at risk, where they can safely stay until it’s time to embark on the journey to a loving home.
Center for Trauma and Fear Recovery
A safe and calm refuge for emotionally traumatized dogs who can be trained and guided into loving homes and for undersocialized cats awaiting barn placement.
Local Adoption and Foster Support Center.
A place in Austin where lives are saved and families are made.
Leave a lifelong legacy, named after your family or in honor of a loved one.
Here are some currently available opportunities to make your mark on lifesaving in Austin — and beyond!
Please contact us to discuss these and other naming opportunities.
Thank you to our generous campaign supporters for helping us build a world where no cat or dog will lose their life simply for not having a home.
