Austin Pets Alive has partnered with Hays County to introduce a new initiative called Affirmative Alternatives to Shelter Surrender (PASS). The program will launch in January 2024 and serve as a virtual resource center for Hays County residents. The addition of this program provides resources for pet owners and provides one-on-one counseling opportunities to assist with complex cases.
San Marcos struggled to provide counseling prior to PASS. Efforts to provide in-house counseling took time and resulted in overcrowding at the San Marcos Regional Animal Shelter. PASS has minimized the number of animals entering shelters. Pet owners can get a response from her within 24 hours.
The San Marcos Regional Animal Shelter is facing overcrowding due to the large number of pets entering the shelter. Shelters prioritize animals within their shelters, so opportunities for case management are limited. The Pet Resource Center model is a physical shelter with additional programs and resources. Lee Ann Shenephiel, executive advisor for Austin Pets Alive, is working to organize the Hays County Pet Resource Center project.
“In many ways, I think it's more humane for pet owners,” Shenephiel said. “When you surrender a pet to a shelter, you don't know who its next family will be. You often don't know what will happen to that pet.”
Some people believe that people who migrate don't care about their pets. Lack of education regarding pet health requirements leads to animal abandonment. PASS is designed to inform Hays County about vaccine schedules, microchip information and litter prevention. Austin Pets Alive works with other organizations in the animal welfare field to provide clinics and volunteers to provide low-cost spay/neuter opportunities.
“A lot of times people don't want to give up their pets,” Shenephiel said. “It doesn't matter what situation they're in, whether it's housing instability or a health crisis. There's something going on in their life that prevents them from providing the care they want for their pet. ”
Lucy Fernandez, Austin Pets Alive's adoption diversion program manager, said the idea for Hays County's initiative is to recruit and train more volunteers and other animal welfare staff across Texas so they can become The aim is to enable communities to care for animals.
“Often, culturally, we're used to taking animals to the pound, but if you want to maintain a high life release rate, you need to provide something aggressive before it's even considered. We want to do that,” Fernandez said.
Spanish language resources were launched in February 2024, support forms are now available in Spanish, and bilingual volunteers are available to provide counseling. Hays County has a large Spanish-speaking community. Providing a personal connection and advice to each person we reach out to is part of Austin Pet His Alive's mission.
“People are afraid to ask for help because they're afraid of being judged,” Fernandez said. “The best option for them, and I don't think it's the best option, is to release the animal. Instead of asking for help… they give up. That's a problem. [people not knowing] What is available? ”
