6/18: City Pound Kills 80,000th Pet This Decade
June 18, 2007 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Total number of dogs and cats killed at Town Lake Animal Center reaches 80,659 since 2000; updated ‘07 figures show increase in kills over last year.
AUSTIN, TX - The latest government figures released by the City of Austin reveal that Austin’s animal shelter reached an alarming milestone at the end of April: the City killed its 80,000th pet this decade. The City’s animal shelter, called Town Lake Animal Center, has now killed 80,659 pets since October 2000.
The pound has put to death an average of 12,381 pets each year this decade; that’s about 34 dogs and cats killed each day. And the situation is worsening: the latest figures for 2007 reveal even more killing than in 2006. Through April of last year’s fiscal year, the pound killed 5,952 dogs and cats; this year, that figure reached 6,370.
Austin pet lover Sarah Bate, a member of animal-advocacy group FixAustin.Org, expressed great sadness at the milestone. “It is a tragedy that an otherwise progressive City government is so out of touch with modern animal-shelter practices,” Bate said. She added, “While other cities have provided a safe harbor for homeless pets for years, the City of Austin continues to rely on killing as its primary method of animal control.”
The City pound reached the 80,000th-pet-killed milestone at the same time it is receiving a barrage of criticism over its plan to relocate the pound from the heart of downtown to the City’s eastern edge. Though most sheltered pets adopted from Austin’s pound get adopted into homes in West and South Austin, the City insists that moving the shelter to East Austin will not increase the killing even further. Specifically, the City points to its plan to add more office space at the relocated shelter.
FixAustin.Org is leading a citizen effort to stop the controversial shelter-relocation plan. Ryan Clinton, the group’s founder, said that “moving our sheltered pets away from the heart of downtown will lead to even more pets being killed every single year at the shelter.” The group has collected more than 5,000 signatures from Austinites who oppose the move.
In November 2006, Austin voters approved a $12 million bond to build a new animal shelter. The bond ballot’s language did not specify whether the shelter would be rebuilt at its current site on Town Lake or moved to another part of town.
Total number of dogs and cats killed at Town Lake Animal Center reaches 80,659 since 2000; updated ‘07 figures show increase in kills over last year.
AUSTIN, TX - The latest government figures released by the City of Austin reveal that Austin’s animal shelter reached an alarming milestone at the end of April: the City killed its 80,000th pet this decade. The City’s animal shelter, called Town Lake Animal Center, has now killed 80,659 pets since October 2000.
The pound has put to death an average of 12,381 pets each year this decade; that’s about 34 dogs and cats killed each day. And the situation is worsening: the latest figures for 2007 reveal even more killing than in 2006. Through April of last year’s fiscal year, the pound killed 5,952 dogs and cats; this year, that figure reached 6,370.
Austin pet lover Sarah Bate, a member of animal-advocacy group FixAustin.Org, expressed great sadness at the milestone. “It is a tragedy that an otherwise progressive City government is so out of touch with modern animal-shelter practices,” Bate said. She added, “While other cities have provided a safe harbor for homeless pets for years, the City of Austin continues to rely on killing as its primary method of animal control.”
The City pound reached the 80,000th-pet-killed milestone at the same time it is receiving a barrage of criticism over its plan to relocate the pound from the heart of downtown to the City’s eastern edge. Though most sheltered pets adopted from Austin’s pound get adopted into homes in West and South Austin, the City insists that moving the shelter to East Austin will not increase the killing even further. Specifically, the City points to its plan to add more office space at the relocated shelter.
FixAustin.Org is leading a citizen effort to stop the controversial shelter-relocation plan. Ryan Clinton, the group’s founder, said that “moving our sheltered pets away from the heart of downtown will lead to even more pets being killed every single year at the shelter.” The group has collected more than 5,000 signatures from Austinites who oppose the move.
In November 2006, Austin voters approved a $12 million bond to build a new animal shelter. The bond ballot’s language did not specify whether the shelter would be rebuilt at its current site on Town Lake or moved to another part of town.