Presented at the American Pets Alive No-Kill Conference 2014.

1. Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter
Cheryl Schneider, Director

3. Williamson County Demographics
• Population 422,679
• 1,135 square miles
• 69.1% growth from
2000 - 2010
• Mix of urban and rural
• North of Travis County
• 106,853 owned dogs
• 120,548 owned cats
• 46,390 community cats

4. WCRAS
• Opened in March 07
• Open Admission
• 15,000 square feet
• Serves population of
416,800
• Collaboration between
County and the cities of
Round Rock, Cedar Park,
Leander and Hutto
• 21 employees
• Operated through a
Board and the County

5. In an open admission shelter,
everyday is a trial!
Increasing intake
Kitten season
Feral cats
Big Dogs
Budget
Staff

6. Increasing Intake
Dogs Cats
2007-2008 2077 1387
2008-2009 3905 2036
2009-2010 3762 2607
2010-2011 4127 2707
2011-2012 4454 3020

7. Where do they come from?
We can’t control how they get here, but
we can control how they leave.

8. 0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
1800
07-08 08-09 09-10 10-11 11-12
Historical Cat Intake
stray
owner surrender
born in shelter
transfer in
animal control

9. Owner Surrenders
Need to Surrender Your Pet?
Animal Shelters should be the last places of resort for dogs and cats – even the
best of shelters can’t compare to a loving home.
Although our vision is to save every healthy and behaviorally sound companion
animal, this is a challenge since all animals are accepted from our jurisdiction
regardless of health, age, species, breed or behavior. There are many
community animals that may need shelter more than one that has a home
already.
We ask that you exhaust all options before deciding to bring a pet to the
shelter.
Do what you can to re-home your pet. Check with family, friends, co-workers
and rescue organizations.
http://pets.wilco.org/Services/SurrenderYourPet/tabid/3560/Default.aspx

10. Owner Surrenders Continued
Re-homing resources available:
• Contact Local Rescue Groups. Groups can be found by doing a search on the Internet
and by visiting Austin Animal Center's Rescue List.
• Network your pet on social media sites like Facebook or Twitter.
• Use Local Classifieds, like Craigslist to find a new home for your pet.
• Place a want ad in the local newspapers.
• Visit Austin Pets Alive! PASS Program site.
• Contact the Austin Humane Society.
Surrendering a Pet to the shelter:
If you are unable to re-home your pet after considerable effort, you can arrange to
surrender your pet to the Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter
Follow these Steps:
• Call the shelter or email the shelter at wcras@wilco.org to schedule an appointment.
• Be prepared to take about 30 minutes while at the shelter to answer questions
about your pet. This will assist us in placing him in the best home possible.
• Bring your ID with address or other proof of residency in our jurisdiction and a $25
surrender fee.
• Please bring all veterinarian and/or vaccination records.

11. Dog/Puppy Capacity
Designed - 54
• 22 Adoption
• 15 Small Dog Room
• 4 Quarantine
• 13 Stray Hold
Current - 115
• Added 7 Outside
Kennels and 3
Isolation Kennels, 8
small dog holding
• Paired up dogs in
adoption

12. Cat/Kitten Intake
Designed - 112
• 30 Adoption Cages
• 4 Bank Cage
• 1 large cage
• 8 9 bank cages (72)
• 5 Bank cage
Quarantine
Current
• 9 large roll-around
• Decreased capacity in
9 bank kennels to 6
• Using as 6 bank –48
capacity
• Using as 9 bank – 72
capacity

13. Dog Outcomes
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
07-08 08-09 09-10 10-11 11-12
Historical Dog Outcomes
adopted
reclaimed
transferred
died
euthanized

14. Cat Outcomes
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
1800
07-08 08-09 09-10 10-11 11-12
Historical Cat Outcomes
adopted
reclaimed
transferred
died
euthanized

15. Keeping the Canines Healthy
• Walking and
socialization by
volunteers
• Toys
• Music
• Play Groups
Average Length of Stay
Cats: 13.1 days
Dogs: 9.8 days

16. Volunteers
• Socialize cats and dogs
• Assist staff
• Special projects
• Kitten Nanny’s
• Off site events
• Fundraisers
• Office/Data Entry
• Customer Service
• Community Education
• Cleaning

18. Adoptions
• #1 reason for increasing save rate
• 244 cats adopted in 2007, 1753 in 2012
• 688 dogs adopted in 2007, 2493 in 2012
• Adoption fee $75.00
– Includes spay/neuter, vaccinations, worming,
microchip, HW or FeLV test
• Promotions!!
• Off-Site

19. Pictures and Videos

27. Celebrate Success!

28. Successful Adoptions!

29. Promotions

33. Birthday Promotions

36. Facebook

37. Fosters
234 foster homes
541 dogs/puppies

38. Reclaims
 Be proactive
• Craigslist
• Other websites
• Post pictures of
incoming animals on
website
 Waive fees if possible
 Offer Community service
hours if can’t pay fees
 Always have them come
in to look

39. Animal Control

40. Kitten Season!!!

41. Annual Intake

42. Keeping Felines Healthy
Socialization
Brushing
Playtime
Fresh Air
Toys
Scratching Pads

43. Fosters
236 homes
1,293 cats/kittens

44. Kitten Nanny Program
• Modeled after APA!
Bottle baby program
• To decrease deaths in
kittens
• To provide excellent
care for kittens
• Volunteer based
• Protocols and training

45. Feral (Free-Roaming) Cats
• TNR
• Free Spay-Neuter
– Grants (sterilized 1008 cats/kittens through a 2-
year, $48,000 PetSmart grant)
• Barn Cats

47. BIG DOGS!!
• Harder to adopt
• Challenge to keep
behaviorally sound
• Breed restrictions
• Least room for
• More behavior issues
• Least likely to be pulled
by rescue

48. Kids - N- K9

49. Kids-N-K9
Big dogs, 98 adopted

50. Canine-Assisted Skills Training Group
Williamson County Youth and Family Services Team
• Alternative to traditional
skills training
• One morning a week, 3 case
managers bring a group of
kids to the shelter
• Provide training, exercise
and socialization to the dogs
that need it most
• In return, the dogs teach
the kids valuable life lessons
on coping skills, empathy,
relationship building,
problem solving and more.

51. Private Trainers

52. Budget
Budgeted
Amount
Revenue Expenditures Donations Donation
Expended
2007-2008 $1,001,845.00 $187,350.77 $974,865.66 $17,980.67 $578.00
2008-2009 $1,007,859.32 $178,714.58 $977,718.41 $27,673.96 $10,655.31
2009-2010 $1,035,782.00 $173,877.64 $1,010,835.19 $51,037.72 $24,542.31
2010-2011 $1,042,808.61 $188,153.42 $1,049,004.95 $92,801.25 $50,548.50
2011-2012 $1,121,905.94 $205,064.37 $1,166,319.18 $94,556.61 $69,059.34

53. What do you do when your budget
isn’t enough?
• Donations
– Jane’s Fund, Play Yard, Kuranda Beds, Wish list, HW
treatment
• Volunteers
– Supplement staff
• Fundraisers
– For specific projects
• Innovative thinking
– Off site adoption
– Interns

54. Projections and Statistics
Year 07-08 08-09 09-10 10-11 11-12 12-13 13-14 14-15 15-16
Population 312,051 335,214 360,097 378,102 397,007 416,857 437,700 459,585 482,564
Cat Dog Intake/1000 21.35 17.72 18.63 18.07 18.83
Cat Intake/1000 8.84 6.07 7.24 7.16 7.61
Dog Intake/1000 12.51 11.65 10.45 10.92 11.22
Cost per capita 3.13 2.95 2.88 2.81 2.83
Euthanasia/1000 7.97 4.09 3.71 1.56 0.99
Dog Intake 3904 3941 3762 4127 4454 4744 4981 5230 5492
Cat Intake 2759 2154 2607 2707 3020 3056 3208 3369 3537
Dog/Cat Intake 6663 6095 6369 6834 7474 7800 8189 8599 9029
Transparent and Factual
Budget planning
Strategic Planning
Grants
Troubleshoot
Improve
Identify Success

55. Customer Service
• Doggy Style
– Not catty
• Donors, volunteers
• Repeat customers
• Give people the benefit
of the doubt

56. Being “No-Kill” is NOT easy!
It is like walking a tightrope
EVERYDAY!

57. Euthanasia
• Have policies on
when euthanasia
is appropriate
• Have a checklist
• Check and
double check

58. Opposition
• Traditional shelters
• ACO’s
• Rescue groups
• Breed Haters
• Staff
• Government

67. Questions?
cschneider@wilco.org
Thank You!