No-Kill pet vote prompts more drop-offs

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Animal advocates and animal welfare officials said they are seeing an increase in the number of pets surrendered to the Town Lake Animal Center since a landmark "no-kill" vote last month.

That increase is prompting a shortage of cage space, they said, which can lead to a shorter life for animals at the shelter.

From March 12 to April 6, a 26-day period, Austin's Town Lake Animal Center took in 445 animals due to "owner surrender", according to the center's operations manager, Filip Gecic.

That is up from 399 animals in the same period in 2009, a city Health and Human Services spokeswoman said.

"For those of us who advocate on behalf of homeless pets, it's a very disturbing number," said Austin Pets Alive! Spokeswoman Laura Stromberg. "That's not the type of city we want to live in."

Stromberg said she hopes pet owners realize animal welfare workers are still euthanizing animals, if her agency or others cannot rescue them.

"We're not 'no-kill' yet," Stromberg said.

In early March, Austin City Council adopted a wide-sweeping set of three dozen recommendations that limited animal euthanization at the local shelter, and forced Austin toward a "no-kill" designation and 90 percent save rate within 18 months.

One of the recommendations put an immediate stop to killing animals if empty cage space existed, but the steady intake has continued to force officials to euthanize.

"We're having people coming in to visit with us saying specifically they're coming here to bring in their pet because they've heard that we're no-kill and the risk of euthanasia has been eliminated for that pet," said Dorinda Pulliam, Director of the Town Lake Animal Center.

Pulliam said that is not the case and encouraged pet owners to find other ways to surrender their pets.

"Every effort should be made to keep the animal out of the shelter environment," she said.

Pulliam said, while they've seen a slight decrease in dogs surrendered, animal workers have seen a "significant" increase in the number of cats coming into the shelter.

In all, over the next two years, the recommendations to move Austin toward a 90 percent save rate at the shelter will cost more than $1 million.

In 2009, city workers euthanized more than 7,000 animals left at shelters. That's down from the 12,000 in the previous year.