The new hospital will be able to treat twice as many pets.
AUSTIN, Texas — Austin Pets Live! sees thousands of pets a year and plans to expand some of its services.
APA's current hospital and transportation hub is located in a 75-year-old facility. Animal shelters manage to help these pets using just a few rooms.
This summer, APA will move out of its old facility and into a brand new $13 million hospital in two buildings off U.S. 290 and Brodie Lane, doubling its capacity.
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“It's very small. Obviously there's limited room. Throughout the facility, we're bumping into each other,” Dr. Alexis Barzyniski said. “It's difficult to teach because there's so much noise everywhere.”
Bardziniski said having staff working in separate rooms makes the process more efficient and makes cleaning easier.
A new transportation hub is also being built in Elgin that can house 100 dogs at a time. This is twice the current capacity.
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“So by moving animals from places with low resources and moving animals to places around the country where there aren’t enough animals for adoption, the rest of Texas can save lives.” said Dr. Ellen Jefferson, CEO of APA.
Over the next few years, APA's facility off Cesar Chavez will be demolished and rebuilt. Jefferson said the dogs will be moved to new kennels rather than their decades-old kennels.
The project is funded by donations and adoption fees, according to APA.
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