Hays County commissioners vote 4-1 to terminate Austin Pets Alive contract for Pet Resource Center; direct Broadus & Associates to coordinate local partners

Hays County commissioners voted 4–1 on March 25 to terminate the county’s professional services agreement with Austin Pets Alive (APA) for development of the Hays County Pet Resource Center (PRC), and directed Broadus & Associates — the county’s project management contractor for a future facility — to work directly with local municipalities and nonprofit organizations to deliver a pet-resource and education center.

Supporters and opponents of APA’s contract filled the commissioners’ courtroom for roughly three hours of public comments, offering sharply different views about who is best positioned to run countywide animal-welfare programs. APA representatives, including Maggie Lynch (senior director of research and development) and Dr. Ellen Jefferson (president and CEO), described APA’s national expertise, a recent PetSmart Charities grant and plans for on‑the‑ground programming. Local nonprofit leaders and volunteers — particularly representatives of PALS (Prevent A Litter of Central Texas) — urged the court to direct more county funding to local providers and criticized APA’s rollout and community outreach.

Why it matters: The county has for months been trying to address chronic overcrowding at the San Marcos Regional Animal Shelter and to build a network of services — spay/neuter, microchip and reunification, community-based diversion and vaccines — that reduce shelter intake. The contract with APA was intended to create a systems approach (a “pet resource center”) that pairs programs with a physical facility; opponents said the county’s money would be better spent expanding established local services.

Most of the public testimony focused on two competing…