Collaboration is a Key Component of the ASPCA Partnership

Increasing Positive Outcomes:

• Town Lake Animal Center (TLAC) continues to conduct awareness and outreach activities to assist pet owners in finding lost pets.
• TLAC dedicated $50,000 to fund free microchips for dogs and cats in high-intake, low-income neighborhoods.
• Free microchips continue to be provided through Emancipet and Animal Trustees of Austin (ATA).
• Austin Humane Society (AHS) and TLAC continue to make cats and dogs available for adoption seven days a week. As a result, combined adoptions grew by 717 animals.
• AHS and TLAC both implemented fee-waived adoptions for cats five years of age and older all year long.
• AHS continued programs to provide behavior modification and shelter enrichment, including the Click to Calm training protocol, the ASPCA food-guarding training, a hand-feeding program for dogs and clicker training for cats.
• AHS continues to consult with professional behaviorists in the Austin area to provide evaluations and develop specific programs for dogs.
• AHS and TLAC expanded their foster homes for underage and sick/injured animals through a large network of foster families.
• The Austin Humane Society had over 260 active foster homes in 2009 and placed over 1200 animals into its foster program.
• TLAC transferred 896 to Austin Humane Society. The combined total transfers to AHS and other non-partner organizations increased by 28% or 1,049 animals.

Reducing Intake:

• ATA provided 5,389 low-cost and 805 free (City of Austin FREE CAT DAYS) spay/neuter surgeries.
• Emancipet provided approximately 10,100 low-cost and 6,500 free surgeries. The free surgeries are targeted to reach animals in neighborhoods with high numbers of unwanted pets and high rates of intake at the City’s Town Lake Animal Center. The largest program providing free surgery is Emancipet’s partnership with the City of Austin and Travis County, which subsidized 3,600 free surgeries through the Emancipet Mobile Clinic. This program provided 120 “free days,” where pet owners line up at dawn for a chance to access free surgery, rabies vaccinations, and microchips.
Another free spay/neuter program offered by Emancipet in partnership with the City of Austin is “Spay Street.” Bringing education, resources, and free spay/neuter to the doorsteps of needy pet owners, Spay Street representatives reduce animal homelessness and suffering one household at a time. This program served approximately 900 animals living in poverty stricken neighborhoods in Austin.
• AHS’ feral cat coordinator worked with more than 200 feral cat trappers in Austin and surrounding communities. Its high-volume Feral Cat Spay/Neuter Clinic provided over 5,100 free spay/neuters in 2009. Kitten intake at Town Lake Animal Center decreased by 732 animals
in 2009.
• Emancipet’s low-cost spay/neuter service is available for feral cats six days per week, which ensures that any time a feral cat is trapped, it can be altered at one of the partner agencies within 24 hours.
• There are nearly 960 volunteers serving all four ASPCA partner agencies. These volunteers assist with all functions of animal care and customer service for a total of more than 66,000 hours of donated time in 2009.
• In 2009, ATA provided wellness services to 25,846 animals, low-cost heartworm treatment for 477 animals, dentals for 375 animals, 705 special surgeries, and provided $56,000 (plus $50K from the TLAC for Parvo treatment) in emergency care assistance for animals suffering from life threatening illnesses or injuries. Animal Trustees’ 4PAWS (For People and Animals Without Shelter) provided all of the above services free to the 60-plus animals of the homeless and indigent citizens of Central Texas.
• Emancipet offered affordable preventive vet care for responsible pet owners at convenient “walk up” clinics. Services are restricted to puppies and kittens or adult animals who are already spayed or neutered, and are limited to vaccinations, flea and tick control products, deworming, and heartworm preventative products. The Walk Up Wellness clinics served approximately 10,000 pets.
• AHS’ BRATT (Behavior Re-homing Assessment Training Team) program provided behavioral rehabilitation for approximately 300 dogs to increase adoptability and retention in the home.
• A partnership between TLAC and ATA provides orthopedic and other trauma care to shelter animals so they can be adopted or returned to their owner. TLAC also utilized donated funds through this partnership to assist families with animals in need of trauma care, so the family
will not be forced to surrender the pet.
• In 2009, the ASPCA’s Humane Education curriculum was implemented in the Austin Independent School District’s (AISD) after-school and science programs. The after-school program at the 21st Century Learning Center consists of one hour per week of humane education topics for a total of 15 weeks. In addition, science teachers in AISD were trained to implement the ASPCA’s Humane Education curriculum in their classrooms.
• TLAC provided pet ownership classes, free rabies vaccinations and pet registration clinics for approximately 2,500 families, animal cruelty classes, PALS Senior Pet Days, and dog safety and bite prevention instruction at kids’ camps.