Austin Animal Services (AAS) and contractor GreaterGood (Goodfix) will stage a five-day spay/neuter clinic Nov. 13–17, with setup beginning Nov. 12 and teardown Nov. 18, AAS communications staff told the Bridal Advisory Commission on Oct. 13.

The agency’s marketing manager, Elizabeth Ferrer, said the clinic will repeat the high-volume model that produced strong turnout at a December clinic and that staff and community partners will push bilingual outreach and neighborhood-level promotion to reach underserved audiences. "We will cross-promote with clinic partners, distribute flyers through libraries and rec centers, and increase Spanish-language social media and Spanish media outreach," Ferrer said.

Why it matters: mass spay/neuter clinics are a primary tool AAS and partners use to reduce intake and prevent pet overpopulation. Organizers told commissioners they want to maximize the number of animals sterilized while also accommodating community cats, fosters and rescue partners who rely on clinic slots.

What AAS will do: Ferrer said AAS will reserve some slots for community-cat (TNR) work and for animals already in the city’s foster program, and staff will coordinate with Goodfix on set-asides. Ferrer described a practical constraint: Goodfix schedules a fixed number of surgeries per day (about 250), and daily totals vary; day-to-day caps cannot simply be redistributed. "If only 150 appointments occur on the first day, they cannot move the remaining 100 to another day," Ferrer said.

The agency will also run an on-site survey during the clinic to better understand how attendees learned about the event; Ferrer said staff are testing QR-code and other tracking methods to improve that measurement.

Funding and partners: AAS is contracting with several providers for spay/neuter services in FY26, Ferrer and interim administrative chief Melissa Poole said elsewhere in the meeting. Those providers include Emancipet, Austin Humane Society, GreaterGood/Goodfix and a planned additional subcontractor identified via an RFI to expand capacity.

Staff and commissioners raised program design questions at the meeting. Commissioner Linder asked whether providers can be asked to prioritize sterilizing large female dogs, a commonly cited high-need category; Poole and Rolando Fernandez, interim chief of AAS, said that procurement guidance and contract terms will emphasize prioritizing medium and large dogs and that AAS is monitoring provider performance.

AAS also said it will continue to reserve some slots for in-house animals that are hard to move, and to coordinate with fosters who may have difficulty traveling to alternate provider locations. Ferrer said Goodfix supplies print materials and AAS will print and distribute flyers locally; Valeria Moreno, bilingual staff, will manage Spanish outreach and a Spanish-language social account AAS relaunched this year.

Ending: Ferrer encouraged commissioners and community groups to help distribute printed flyers and to identify convenient clinic sites for future events; commissioners urged the department to prioritize clinics in high-need neighborhoods such as Elroy. The clinic is scheduled Nov. 13–17; setup and teardown days are Nov. 12 and 18.