Statesman: New era can begin at Austin's animal shelter

New era can begin at Austin's animal shelter
Statesman Editorial Board

Austin's new director of animal services, Abigail Smith, is the right person to advance the city's no-kill goal for its Town Lake Animal Center. Smith, hired by City Manager Marc Ott, starts the job March 15.

Austin's shelter is in transition as it shifts its focus from euthanizing stray cats and dogs as one of its methods to control the area's animal population to more humane measures such as adoption. Smith will oversee the operation of the city's planned $12 million animal center in East Austin, which is scheduled to open next year.

Though it will be more spacious, it will have no more capacity than the cramped, dark downtown shelter. That presents a formidable challenge, given the City Council's action last March to make Austin's shelter a no-kill facility. That designation means having 90 percent of the animals that come into the shelter leave alive, and the council set up a two-year timeline to reach that goal. We urge the council to maintain Town Lake as an adoption center once the new animal shelter opens.

Smith, who will earn a salary of $115,003 and oversee a $6 million budget, is highly regarded by animal welfare advocates nationally for her work as executive director of the Tompkins County SPCA in Ithaca, N.Y. That center has operated as a no-kill shelter for a decade. While there, she worked with nearby Cornell University to carry out a shelter medicine program, strengthened partnerships with animal rescue groups and secured funding for a special program for feral cats, Ott said.

She was one of five finalists who participated in interviews and a meet-and-greet forum in Austin; city staffers and community members also visited her in Ithaca.

Smith has shown herself to be a good communicator and solid fundraiser, skills that will serve her and this community well. To better manage the city and county pet population, she must talk to communities across income, ethnic and other lines. She will need the help of business leaders and community organizers in making policies to address the root causes of pet abandonment and the best way to reduce the city's and county's populations of stray animals. There has been a lack of clarity, vision and message from others who held the job in the past, and that has fostered a culture of stagnation at the center and in the community.

One issue that continues to come up in a sluggish economy is whether renters abandon their pets because they cannot afford pricey pet fees charged by apartments. So if there is a way to ease those fees or come up with other solutions, fewer pets might be abandoned. Smith should lead that discussion and seek remedies.

Another problem blamed on our ailing economy is Central Texas' booming stray cat population. If owners are dumping their cats on the streets because they no longer can afford to care for them, that, too, needs attention.

While we're on the topic, let's give kudos to the Spay Austin Coalition and other groups that are engaged in trapping, fixing and returning stray cats to the streets. They are making a difference, as are Austin Pets Alive, the Austin Humane Society, Emancipet and Animal Trustees of Austin, by working to control pet populations through humane ways, including aggressive adoption efforts and spay and neuter services.

We look forward to a new era at the animal shelter with Smith at the helm. But she can't do it alone, and we urge the community to work with her to move Austin into the growing ranks of no-kill cities across the country.