Austin Animal Center (AAC) continues to experience critical capacity issues with more animals coming in than going out. AAC has made the difficult decision to temporarily close intake effective July 2, 2024. Intake is now restricted to emergencies only which includes animals that have life-threatening injury or illness, or animals that present a clear public safety risk. Each situation will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.  

“Between June 24 and June 26, we took in 149 dogs and cats and only 124 left during that same timeframe,” said Chief Animal Services Officer Don Bland. “This has been an ongoing pattern that has led to us having more animals than we have kennels.  We started this morning with 24 dogs and 5 cats without an appropriate kennel.”

AAC asks that residents who need assistance with an injured animal take the following steps:  

• Call 311, advise them that you need assistance with a sick or injured animal and ask to speak with an Animal Protection Officer.
• Wait for the Animal Protection Officer to pick up the animal. Do not bring the animal to the shelter.
• If you have found a loose pet that is not injured, please visit AAC’s Lost and Found Pet website for guidance.

Intake will reopen when appropriate kennel space is available for all animals. For more information on fostering and adopting, visit austinanimalcenter.org. AAC is open for adoption and reclaim Monday through Sunday from 11 am to 7 pm. All adoption fees are currently waived.  

To mitigate capacity issues in the past few months, AAC has:  

• Offered financial incentives to rescue partners to pull animals
  • $500 for pulling a dog that opens a large kennel;  
  • $250 for small dog transfer; and  
  • $50 for cat transfers.
• Placed 24 dogs in boarding at a cost of approximately $5,000-6,000 per week
• Waived adoption fees
• Published an urgent placement list
• Instituted a finder-to-foster program to help community members with found pets
• Launched a VIP adoption program, giving dog adopters a trial period with support from the shelter
• Contracted extra days with a high volume spay/neuter veterinarian to expedite surgeries
• Hired two temp positions to assist with foster program coordination

About Austin Animal Center

Austin Animal Center is the municipal shelter for the City of Austin and unincorporated Travis County. In 2011, Austin City Council passed a resolution to increase the shelter’s live outcome rate to the national no-kill standard of 90%. In 2019, Council increased the mandated rate to 95%. Austin Animal Center has consistently been at or above this rate but has had to take measures to maintain this level in the past few years, including restricting intake due to declining adoptions.