Austin Animal Services — Attraction in Austin

INTAKE IS VERY CONDESCENDING.

TLDR: I attempted to do right and good, and be a kind human to a stray animal, and do as I had been told by other shelters. And as a result I was belittled and treated like I did everything wrong. After reading other reviews, I can only hope and pray they will take proper care of her and find her and her babies good loving homes.

The full story:

I sheltered a stray cat to help protect her from the cold snap a few weeks ago and ended up loving her. She was very sweet, loving, cuddly, and affectionate. My partner and myself ended up deciding we wanted to try and foster her and potentially keep her as she was docile and loving, and did everything we could to report her, ask around, post to lost and found pages and make sure she wasn't already somebodies pet. I have other cats and after getting her checked for diseases, doing scent swapping and room swapping to get them slowly used to each other to see how they would interact, first introductions went poorly. We did a carefully monitored introduction where they could not see each other, but could hear and smell each other through the cracks of a closed/locked door, and the stray grew immediately aggressive upon hearing and smelling my cats. She yowled, hissed, and attacked the door and the carpet, attempting to get out at them. it was shocking and nothing like how she was with us. After a couple instances of this where it became clear she is definitely not ok to live in a home with other cats, we made the difficult decision to surrender her as we knew it simply was not going to best for all cats involved. In the last week of us having her, we became pretty sure she was pregnant with kittens, unsurprising, as when we got her checked out, she was not spayed or microchipped.

We thought it was the most humane decision to turn her in instead of rereleasing her so that her and her kittens could get proper medical care and get spayed/neutered when the time came, so as not to contribute to the cat overpopulation issue. Both our other cats are adopted rescues and we have been told BY THE HUMANE SOCIETY that getting a cat spayed/Neutered and finding it a home is what is best for both the animals and the city.

I turned her in as a stray, but because I had been taking care of her for four weeks, and had taken her to Emancipet to get tested and microchipped, I was told by a very condescending staff member that Legally she is my pet now and I have to surrender her as my pet, which I said was fine. She then told me in an annoyed tone, quote "NOW WE CAN'T RELEASE HER, NOW SHE HAS TO BE KEPT ON AND ADOPTED. YOU WILL BE PUT ON RECORD AS HAVING GIVEN UP A PET. SHE WAS PROBABLY A COMMUNITY CAT, NEXT TIME THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE DOING SOONER". She then walked away and I was speechless.

Like...she wasn't fixed. I knew it was a bad idea to release an unspayed cat that can have more cats and add to a cat overpopulation. So releasing her myself was not a good option in my mind. And I had every intention of trying to see if I could keep her on as my pet, and be a loving home, and it took a while to figure that out that I could not be the home she needed because I wanted the cat introduction to be slow, AS RECOMMENDED BY ANY SHELTER OR PROFFESSIONAL.

As annoyed as the lady seemed that I kept her and legally now they can't dump her back on the streets, I'm GLAD I waited and surrendered her as a pet instead of a stray. IMHO, she should NOT just be dumped as a stray back into the streets but would be a wonderful pet and lap companion in a single cat home.

I don't know if Austin Animal Center even reads their reviews or cares, but I wanted to leave one anyway so other people can be prepared for how they will be treated for trying to be responsible and do some good in the world.

Also, as commented by others, communication is difficult and unhelpful and bureaucratic. Volunteers were sweet but...

SPEAK. TO. THE. RIGHT. ADOPTION. COUNSELOR at the front desk. Please don’t take this P.S.A lightly.

It will 100% absolutely make your adoption experience either AMAZING or the most STRESSFUL experience ever that ends in heartbreak. If you feel a single HINT of the counselor you’re speaking to be un empathetic, off putting, fake or just overall weird vibes in the slightest. GET. A. SECOND. OPINION from a different counselor until you speak to the right one. I’ve learned this the hard way and it ended with just absolutely crushing me and my girlfriends heart. I was furious and my girlfriend cried about 4 times. Some counselors are much more better suited and educated about their policies than others and if you try to argue about some uncertainties, certain individuals will seem to lie to cover their mistakes, which I had a feeling but what I experienced today just confirmed they were cover ups. Anyway, just be aware there’s a possibility you may get heavily misinformed by counselor or two. There seems to be consistency issues here among the information that’s being told and I should’ve just asked for a supervisor or lead from the beginning.

I lost a kitty I’ve had my eye on since day 1 to a random couple that walked in one morning that was allowed to continue with the adoption process, even though I was told DAYS PRIOR I’m not allowed to adopt her and that NO ONE ELSE IS due to her being underweight. That is what I was told. She was adopted at the same exact weight few days later by another counselor.

It was part of the “policy” that seemed to be very strictly in place and my request to adopt was immediately shot down. So I complied and waited and visited, waited and visited again to check on the kitty that I wanted so badly to hit the required weight for me to adopt. I asked to adopt again the next day and possibly check the weight, she weighed in less than her usual weight and I was told I should come back a couple of days later by that same counselor. Only for me to come EXACTLY 24 hours later and get told by another counselor she had a couple come in to adopt that kitty 15 minutes prior. I was told through those days NO ONE ELSE can adopt her, she CANNOT be adopted while underweight, come back another time. I pleaded to be on some kind of notification list that way I can come grab her the moment she is available. The counselor just told me no and to come back again as if it was so easy to do. At the end of the day, the couple that adopted the kitty had an easy process with no questions asked, even though they were under the SAME EXACT conditions as me. The only difference is they talked to a different counselor. This all happened within a 4 day time frame where I’ve come into the shelter everyday CONSECUTIVELY. I live far north so it isn’t an easy quick drive. Today I spoke to Ginger at the front desk and she was wonderful, empathetic and seemed to really care what I was speaking of. She offered me great understanding and made me realize I was never offered an alternative method of adoption which would’ve allowed me to adopt the kitty I wanted the first day that I wanted her which would’ve avoided ALL of this. What’s done is done but I had a terrible experience because of the person I talked to. I hope kitty 10777 has found a home with amazing owners. This man also had the audacity to say to me the volunteers sometimes don’t know what they’re talking about when they were at the front telling him I should be able to adopt the...

UPDATE: Austin Humane Society took the dog in. I thank Austin Humane Society and the volunteers (NOT THE STAFF) from Austin Animal Center for their suggestion. I also appreciate the volunteers from Austin Animal Center because they were with me outside the shelter helping me trying to get help by calling their friends, thinking of resources etc. At their suggestion of Austin Humane Society, we immediately went.

Found a dog at Exxon on Cameron Road. He’s OUTSIDE AUSTIN ANIMAL CENTER because they won’t take him in.

I initially called 311 for a loose dog and I have service number 25-00132287. I waited two hours and no one picked him up so I took him at Austin Animal Center. THEY WONT TAKE HIM IN. I understand they are overcapacity but I don’t have resources to take him as well. I live in an apartment in one bedroom and I have a 96 lbs dog already. Still, they told me they will make me an appointment and I said where can I put him in the meantime., they don’t care where. They just told me to take him. I said I don’t know anyone anywhere. I asked for a resource, they couldn’t give me. They said they were going to give me a kennel, I said that’s impossible because again I have a big dog.

I asked to speak to an animal protective officer, I was told to bring him back to the neighborhood, and I said wouldn’t that be dumping him? (While I was on the phone with an officer, he was loose again because he bit off the leash I got from Austin Animal Center then the officer accused me of dumping him, WHAT?!) She added that taking the dog to the shelter was “NOT THE RIGHT THING TO DO AND THE RIGHT THINGG TO DO WOULD HAVEE BEEN TO LEAVE HIM WHERE WE FOUND HIM!” What is more cruel?!

SO I AM OUTSIDE AUSTIN ANIMAL CENTER WAITING FOR THIS POOR DOG TO BE TAKEN CARE OF BUT ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER HANGED UP ON ME AND THE STAFF SAID THEY COULDNT TAKE HIM. I asked for help for AT LEAST resources to put him. NOTHING! They even said the appointment to take him in is in a month and I’m like where am I goingg to put him in a month? NOTHING! THE STAFF WERE NOT HELPFUL AT ALL! SHAME ON THIS SHELTER AND THEIR ANIMAL PROTECTIVE SERVICES. I AM GLAD I LIVE IN WILLIAMSON COUNTY! WILLIAMSON COUNTY STAFF COULD HAVE HANDLED THIS BETTER!

I completely understand the shelter has no capacity BUT I HAVE NO capacity as well so I’m pleading to this community to take him in or foster him.

If you are the owner, please pick him up and don’t let him off your sight!!

To the City of Austin, if we don’t have enough revenue to fund for expanding the shelter, and if you want the “community to pick up” and cooperate, please add polices to make residential properties more pet friendly- To eliminate dog breed discrimination and reduce pet deposit fees. There are so many people who cannot take pets because of apartment policies. If you want the community to help, then please reduce policies that would hinder families to adopt medium and large dogs or...