The City of Austin has a new Animal Services Strategic Plan, which aims to improve the shelter system. City Council adopted the plan during a March 27 meeting, and the city laid out next steps in an April 2 release.

The release offers the following synopsis: the goals are "building on ASO’s strong foundation of service, enhancing operations, prioritizing animal welfare, and further strengthening support for Austin’s two- and four-legged community. This plan aligns with the City of Austin's Strategic Plan, ensuring that ASO’s initiatives support the City’s broader goals for a thriving, equitable, and resilient community."

The plan sets forth an immediate implementation from March 2025 to at least 2030. There are six priorities with multiple sub-goals each:

• Humane Care: improve both physical spaces and staff training to offer better care to all animals, especially those with behavioral challenges.
• Open Intake: Increase shelter capacity and timeliness of intake, and decrease barriers to ownership like pet deposits and weight limits.
• Public Health & Safety: Teach the public about how to interact with animals, lower incidents, and respond faster in emergency cases.
• Spay Neuter: Increase the number of spay and neuter surgeries for all animals, whether owned or unowned.
• Live Release: Improve relations with the public to increase successful adoptions, return animals to their owners, and more.
• Staff & Volunteers: Improve staff conditions to build more morale and a more effective team.

The plan was developed by the City of Austin's Office of Budget and Organizational Excellence, plus the Animal Services Office (ASO) and its staff, residents, volunteers, community partners, and the Animal Advisory Commission. It comes after an internal audit and help from an external expert on no-kill policies and practices, which were approved in July 2022.

The audit, published in 2023, found that the City was standing in the way of proper animal care. It examined the cause of Austin Animal Center's restricted intake, the quality of care animals were getting, and whether it was sustainable to expect a live release goal of 95 percent given the current level of support the shelter was offered.

Ultimately, it concluded that these goals conflicted with each other, and the shelter's ability to help was hindered by overcrowding, poor communication between staff and management, a lack of a strategic plan, and other hindrances.

"The Council’s approval of this strategic plan ensures Austin Animal Services can move forward with key improvements, including expanding access to shelter animal intake,” said Austin City Manager, T.C. Broadnax, upon the adoption of the plan in 2025. “This plan reflects the collaboration and dedication of our community, staff, and partners, and I look forward to seeing its impact as we work to improve services and outcomes for animals and residents alike."

The public also had a tenuous relationship at best with Chief Animal Services Officer Don Bland, who the city placed on administrative leave on March 7. It was later announced that Bland would retire in May, following the leave. Deputy Chief Animal Services Officer Jason Garza has served in his place in the interim.

“The new Animal Services Strategic Plan provides a needed roadmap," said Austin Mayor Kirk Watson, "highlighting objectives and opportunities that will build a stronger, more efficient animal services system and prioritizes exceptional service and humane treatment for all of Austin’s animals."