Austin Animal Center reports roughly 95% live outcomes for August; commissioners ask for clarity on unassisted deaths and a formaldehyde incident

Jason Garza, a staff presenter with the Austin Animal Center, provided the commission’s monthly operations briefing on Sept. 8, reporting intake and outcome figures for August and summarizing volunteer and rescue activity.

Garza said 964 animals arrived at the center in August and that staff recorded 604 adoptions and 64 animals returned to owners. He said the shelter began the month with approximately 1,241 animals in inventory across the shelter and foster system. Garza reported about 32 injured animals impounded by field officers, 114 other sick animals, 35 rabies specimens collected and 21 in-field owner surrenders. He said volunteer support remains strong: roughly 570 volunteers donated about 7,400 hours during the month and the center completed four volunteer orientations, adding about 115 potential volunteers.

Garza reported the center completed roughly 500 spay/neuter surgeries and vaccinated about 1,600 animals in August. On outcomes, he said the center’s live outcome rate in the posted report read 95.7 percent, but after staff reviewed records they expected the final figure to be approximately 95.2 percent and promised a revised figure once final checks were complete.

Commissioners asked staff to be explicit in the public report about "unassisted deaths" (deaths that occur without euthanasia). Commissioner Ferguson noted the city code section discussed in the meeting (referred to as "3-1-27-10") requires reporting of deaths and cause when known. Staff said they will add an explicit unassisted-death number to the monthly report; during the meeting staff clarified there were 13 unassisted deaths recorded for August.

Public commenter Julie Oliver raised several concerns, including a claim that in June an unusually high number of animals died unassisted (her recorded phrase in the meeting was "44 0 dogs and cats died unassisted in the shelter"), and she said a re-use error had occurred when a rubbing-alcohol container at the center was refilled with formaldehyde and used during surgical prep. Several commissioners asked staff to prepare a summary of that safety incident and to explain steps taken to prevent recurrence. Interim chief Rolando Fernandez told the commission he would provide a summary and outline of corrective steps at a future meeting.

Garza and other staff also said rescues and fosters continue to move animals out of the shelter. In August, 21 different rescues pulled about 261 animals according to staff remarks during the presentation. Staff also said the foster program included roughly 426 (the presenter alternated phrasing between "426 animals" and "26 families" in the transcript) — staff noted they maintain over 1,000 approved fosters on file.

Commissioner questions focused on the clarity and completeness of public reporting: commissioners asked that unassisted deaths be shown in the published packet and that staff include rescue-level breakdowns (which rescues pulled how many animals) to enable the commission to thank volunteer partners and donors.

"If there are things you want us to track, we can make it happen," Garza said, adding staff’s goal is to give commissioners useful data for oversight and planning.

Staff committed to deliver a corrected live-outcome percentage after final record checks and to add unassisted-death counts and rescue-breakdown detail in future reports.