Austin Pets Alive! Opens Adoption Center
September 1, 2010 by Paris Permenter and John Bigley
Filed under Other
We’re so happy to pass along word that Austin Pets Alive! has opened a new adoption and resource center! We were hoping to go to their media opening today but we were tied up on another assignment all day. We hope to make it into Austin soon to see the new facility at 2807 Manchaca Road!
We’ve been following the progress of Austin Pets Alive!, and a few months ago attended a fundraiser news event they had with Kin ky Friedman on the steps of the Texas State Capitol (when he endorsed Woodrow the Dog for governor!) This nonprofit is working hard to make Austin a “no-kill” city and, after two years of hard work, they’ve opened an adoption and resource center.
The volunteer-driven organization is responsible for saving more than 4,000 lives since it activated its rescue program in June 2008. Within its first year, the adoption and resource center will save at least another 1,000 lives — in addition to the 3,000 lives the group is already on track to save — and potentially thousands more per year once it is fully funded, the group says.
The center will increase stability and decrease costs associated with operating a decentralized organization, according to APA!’s executive director, Dr. Ellen Jefferson. “This will not be a long-term fixer upper project,” said Jefferson, “Our plan is to move in the animals as soon as it is sanitary and safe and then continue fundraising to further build out catteries and dog runs. We figured we should start with saving lives and then build what we need, not the other way around.”
Jefferson said the organization will move some dogs in to the center next week and then begin adoptions immediately. They plan to transfer more dogs and cats into the center in the coming weeks and months, as donations allow.
Though APA was instrumental in pursuing a no-kill plan for Austin, it could be years before the city-run shelter is truly no-kill, Jefferson added. The new APA center will be a haven for all animals, including those who are “less than perfect” that aren’t chosen for the city shelter’s adoption program.
“It is these ‘unadoptable’ animals that, with very little work, become highly adoptable and end up living healthy, happy lives in permanent homes. They have and will continue to be our focus,” Dr. Jefferson said.
The organization believes that 90 percent of the animals who enter Town Lake Animal Center are savable while 10 percent are irreparably aggressive or too sick to save.
The center will be used to host adoption events and to provide medical and behavioral care for the animals most at risk for euthanasia from the city shelter. Because it rests on four acres, there will be room for a community dog park and family picnic area.
APA will be relying on the Austin community to make the center fully functional. Residents are being asked to donate funds to build such amenities as private kennels, a fully-functioning veterinary clinic, a parvo puppy recovery center and a care center for ‘bottle baby’ kittens who are under six weeks old.
For More Information:
- visit www.austinpetsalive.org
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About Paris Permenter and John Bigley
DogTipper publishers Paris Permenter and John Bigley are a husband-wife team of full-time writers. The couple has authored over two dozen books and 2,500+ magazine articles.
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