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Commissioners press Austin Animal Center for clearer data on unassisted deaths and software transition
Summary
Commissioners and volunteers pressed staff for clearer, consistent reporting after a spike in unassisted deaths; staff said a portion of the discrepancy resulted from animals coding as dead-on-arrival and that ShelterBuddy software implementation and staffing constraints have complicated preventative medicine tracking.
Commissioners and volunteers raised questions at the Aug. 11 meeting about a spike in “unassisted deaths” recorded at Austin Animal Center and asked staff to provide clearer explanations and historic comparisons.
Volunteer Shelley Leebam said the number of unassisted deaths—66 in June—was “way out of line” with prior years and that 25 deaths in July included 11 adult cats; she asked whether an outbreak, changes in coding, or other issues explained the trend. Leebam asked the commission for help identifying policy steps to reduce those deaths.
Jason Garza told the commission that some of the initial…
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