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

1. No Kill: How Austin Did It
How It Happened &
What It Means for You & Animal Lovers Everywhere

2. Austin, Texas’s Drive to 90%
Saved
I. Why us?
II. FixAustin.org & The Austin No Kill Political
Movement
III. Austin Pets Alive’s Lifesaving Programs
IV. The City of Austin’s Mandated No Kill Plan
V. Lessons from Austin: What It Means for
You and Animal Lovers Everywhere

3. I.
Why Us

4. Ryan inspired by common sense that
Austin could do better
• Nathan Winograd
conference
• Redemption
• San Francisco in 1990’s
• Tompkins County SPCA:
First Open-admission
“No Kill” shelter

5. Ellen inspired by common sense that
Austin could do better
• Heard FixAustin
• Enormous opportunity to fill
homes- AVMA
• Measuring Impact
– Stop measuring Inputs
• Right thing to do
• Spay/neuter doesn’t save the
animals already at or entering
the shelter.
Martin Luther King

6. II.
FixAustin.org & The Austin No Kill Political
Movement

7. Austin, Texas in 2005
Foster program? No.
Off-site adoptions? No.
Official save-rate goal: 50%
Save rate: 50%
Number of animals killed: 14,304

8. Austin, Texas in 2005
No Kill movement? No.
Animal-welfare stakeholder
Interested in No Kill? No.
Interested City Council? No.
Shelter Staff Committed to No Kill Goal? No.
Interested public? YES!

10. FixAustin.org Goals:
1. Achieve a 90% or Higher Save Rate of All
Impounded Animals
2. Rigorous Implementation of the Programs and
Policies That Had Worked to End Shelter
Killing in Ithaca, NY, Charlottesville, VA, and
Reno, NV.
3. Progressive and Compassionate Shelter
Leadership

11. What did we do?
• Engaged in the Democratic Process.
• Professionalized Animal Advocacy in Austin.
• Cultivated Real Relationships with Decision-makers and the Press.
• Never, Ever Went Away.

15. What did the political movement
accomplish?
• Informed and engaged the citizens of Austin
about shelter issues and the promise that
lifesaving reforms can bring.
• Created a huge “base” of animal lovers,
volunteers, and advocates.
• Put No Kill on the City’s agenda.
• Helped inform and cultivate the interest of
politicians and city leaders on the issue.
• Helped set the table for what came next.

17. What did Austin Animal Welfare Look
Like in 2008?
• Had tried No Kill in 2000.
– Decreased euthanasia from 85% to
50%
– 50% euthanasia rate was static since
2001
• Massive Spay Neuter Efforts
– 3 agencies = 25,000/yr
– TNR
• Wellness Clinics
– Emancipet and ATA
• Free Microchips
• One No Kill Shelter (AHS): 2,000
adoptions per year
• 80+ rescue groups- unknown # of
adoptions

18. What did Town Lake Animal Center
look like annually 2002- 2007?
• 20,000- 25,000 annual
• Live outcomes were
static at ~11,000-
12,000 per year
• Euthanasia fluctuated
between 11,000 and
15,000 depending on
intake numbers

19. TLAC Year to Year Activity 2002-2007
24,663
10,916
27,163
24,357
25,489
24,807
23,960
14,055
12,343
14,304
12,887
12,466
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
FY 02/03 FY 03/04 FY 04/05 FY 05/06 FY 06/07 FY 07/08
Live Intake Euthanized

20. Austin Animal Center Pet
Population Snapshot 2007
67% of
cats killed
45% of
dogs killed
14,055
total killed

21. III.
Austin Pets Alive’s
Lifesaving Programs

22. Figure out which animals are dying,
then build a program to save them.

23. Have to understand “the
why” before you plan the
“how”
• Looked at Euthanasia
stats past and present
• in other words who was
dying and why?
– age, species, breed,
reason
Why was this mass euthanasia
happening?

24. • Everyone thought it couldn’t be
done
• “Too many animals & not
enough homes”
– “Spay/Neuter is the only
answer”
– Should not divert funds from
s/n
• “No one wants these animals”
because they are “unadoptable”
• In fighting
What was preventing higher live
outcomes?
Don’t dwell on the
negativity

25. We Did Our Homework Before We
Started
• Who could step up to prevent these deaths?
– Rescue groups, shelters, spay/neuter clinics
– No Kill Shelter vs. No Kill City
• Statistics
– Know the euthanasia statistics
• How many? What months?
• Why were animals dying in Austin?
– Species, Age
• Is there any info about reasons animals are
euthanized at local shelter?
• What are we missing here?
– Are there any programs out there in the world to
address the reasons they are being killed?

26. Made the Decision to Do It
• Choose the Plan:
– Gain consensus for long term ambiguous plan
– Political coup d’etat
– Save the lives ourselves
• Recognized need for a new entity to save lives- US!
• Who will US be?– Austin Pets Alive
• What will our mission be?
– To make Austin a No Kill City
• What is our main message?
– This is an urgent crisis and we need to start acting like we did when Hurricane Katrina came –ACT NOW to save lives
• How will we meet our mission?
– By focusing ONLY on the animals already slated for euthanasia
• Who will join us?
– Met with Key Austin Stakeholders
– Asked for support
– Didn’t ask twice for help

27. How will we accomplish our
Mission?
• Divide and Conquer the Mission with
Committees/Teams
– Recruited key members where we could
– Held Town Hall Meeting to go over plan
and sign on volunteer team members
• # of volunteers is directly related to amount
of success
– Created Action Items for each team
• Be Smart!
– Know what you need to have set up
BEFORE you start saving lives.
– Learn from our mistakes/successes so you
don’t have to wait too long.
– It took us about 30 days to start saving
lives.

28. • Started rescue and
adoption in 2008
• No funding
• No facility
• All volunteer
Austin Pets Alive! in 2008

29. Where to start saving lives?
Developed clear rescue criteria to ensure measurable success
We started by saving the lives that we knew people wanted to
adopt
Then worked towards the next lowest hanging fruit
If this dog/cat gets more marketing/training/medicine
she/he has a greater chance of meeting the right
person
Lastly, working on hardest cases that have an apparent lack of
homes
Recognized need to emphasize adoptions as much as rescue

31. Puppies!
Why were they
dying?
• Ran out of
Time
• Parvo/Diarrhea
• Mange
• Ringworm
• Injured
• Too young to
spay/neuter

32. Puppies!
How did APA save
them?
• Foster homes.
• Dedicated parvo
ward.
• Treat diseases and
injuries while
available for
adoption.
• Foster until altered.

33. Puppies!
What did APA
accomplish?
• Over 700 puppies
saved per year since
2008
• 85% parvo survival
rate
• Every single shelter
puppy in Austin is
safe now.

34. Small dogs!
Why were they dying?
• Out of time
• Deemed
“aggressive”
• Showed poorly in
shelter environment
• Terrified
• Bad patients

35. Small dogs!
How did APA save them?
• Foster homes!
• Hold and Release
Evaluation Technique
• Fractures heal very easily
with little intervention or
loss of function
• “Sleepover” adoption
meetings
• Foster-until-adoption
programs (online
advertising)

36. Small dogs!
What did APA
accomplish?
• Saved over 300 small
dogs from the “euth
list” per year since
Jan 2010.
• All shelter small dogs
are safe in Austin now.

37. Kittens!
Why were they
dying?
• Too young to be
spayed/neutered
• Ringworm
• Seasonal
supply/demand

38. Kittens!
How did APA save them?
• Bottle-baby trailer to
handle mass feedings.
• Large-scale foster to
meet seasonal
supply/demand.
• Treat ringworm while
available for adoption.

39. Kittens!
What did APA
accomplish?
• Saves 1,100 – 1800
bottle babies per year
from AAC
• All shelter kittens are
safe in Austin now.

40. Cats!
• Why were they dying?
– Too many all at once
– Injuries/illness
– Ringworm
– Behavior
– Feline leukemia

41. Cats!
How did APA! Save Them
• High Volume Adoptions
– Many venues around
town
• Foster homes!!!
• Ringworm Ward
• Barn Cat Program
• Feline Leukemia
Sanctuary
• City doubled adoptions

42. Cats!
What was accomplished:
• All shelter cats are safe
in Austin now
• City of Austin built
Community Cat Return
Program

43. Large Breed Dogs!
Why were they dying:
• Least desired by
adopters
• Behavior
• Some medical

44. Large Breed Dogs!
How APA! Saves Them
• Play Groups
• Marketing
• Foster homes
• Canine Good Citizen
Program
• Shelter
• City increased
adoptions

45. Large Breed Dogs!
• MOST large breed dogs
are safe except dogs
with significant
behavior issues.
– Even though not 100%,
only 2-3 per month die
that could be saved with
behavioral help and they
die because of lack of
space to keep them
while training.

46. What else worked?
Multiple off-site
adoption locations 7
days/week in high-
traffic locations
throughout city
All positive, fun,
friendly marketing
Empower
Volunteers
PASS
Program
Excellent
Customer
Service
Consistent hours,
locations, service
Fast responses to on-line inquiries
Efficient, convenient
adoptions process
Play Groups for big
dogs

48. What has APA accomplished?
Austin Pets Alive has
saved over 23,000
dogs & cats
since June 2008.

49. IV.
The City of Austin’s Mandated
No Kill Plan

50. The City of Austin’s
No Kill Implementation Plan
1. Change the mission of
animal services = 90%
save rate.
2. Off-site adoptions.
3. Large-scale foster
program.
4. Behavioral
Rehabilitation.
5. Intake counseling.
6. Community cat
spay/neuter & release.
7. Low-cost and free spay-
neuter programs.
8. Provide advanced
“euth” list to rescue
partners.
9. Public awareness &
new website.
10.Increase return-to-
owners.
11. Moratorium on empty-
cage killing.

51. 60.00%
65.00%
70.00%
75.00%
80.00%
85.00%
90.00%
95.00%
100.00%
October08
November08
December08
January09
February09
March09
April09
May09
June09
July09
August09
September09
October09
November09
December09
January10
February10
March10
April10
May10
June10
July10
August10
September10
October10
November10
December10
January11
February11
March11
April11
May11
June11
July11
August11
Austin Animal Center
Live-Outcome Rate Over Time

52. 2005 2011
Foster program? No. YES!
Off-site adoptions? No. YES!
Official save-rate goal: 50% 90%
Save rate: 50% 91%
No Kill movement? No. YES!
Animal-welfare stakeholder
interested in No Kill?
No. YES!
Interested City Council? No. YES!
Shelter Management with No Kill
goal?
No. YES!
Interested public? YES! YES!
A Tail of Two Cities

53. • This is an URGENT CRISIS every day!
– Every day animals come in to the shelter
– Every day animals are euthanized
– Every day you need to act to get them out as fast as you
can
• Focus on the power of one to reach your goal
– People did this so people can fix this
– All we need is one action from one person, over and over
again.
– Divide and conquer
2 Important Points if you want your
city to be No Kill

54. Austin 2013
• FY2013 <2,000 euthanized, Largest No Kill City in the US
• APA adopted out- ~6000 in 2013
• Animals in Foster at APA ~500-1,000 at any time
• Active Volunteers at APA ~2,000 volunteer hours per week
• APA has expanded beyond the City of Austin to other high
kill shelters WHILE maintaining 93% save rate
– Who would have thought we could?

55. 0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
30000
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
2009-2013 Austin Animal Center Year
to Year Activity
AAC intake
Euthanized

56. V.
Lessons: What It Means for You
& Animal Lovers Everywhere

57. “No Kill Equation” Austin No Kill Plan
Trap-Neuter-Release 
High-Volume, Low-Cost Spay/Neuter 
Rescue Groups 
Foster Care 
Comprehensive Adoption Program 
Pet Retention 
Medical & Behavioral Rehabilitation 
Public Relations & Community Involvement 
Volunteers 
Proactive Redemptions 
Management with No Kill Goal 
1. No Kill was no accident.

58. 2. No Kill is achievable.
In Austin, it all started with a small group of people
who said enough is enough.
Even in one of America’s largest and fastest-growing
cities with a 20,000+ intake, and even in the face of
exceedingly entrenched and powerful opposition.
There were 3 “No Kill” communities in 2008.
Now there are ~100.

59. 3. No Kill is inevitable.
FixAustin.org was the first No Kill
political-action group in America.
Now there are hundreds.

60. 4. No Kill is a choice.
You get to decide what role you will play:
(a) lead the lifesaving in your community;
(b) be an obstacle to lifesaving; or
(c) stand on the sidelines while lives are lost.

61. 5. No Kill is fun.
(seriously.)

63. No Kill is love.
(the end.)