Austin Animal Services unveils five-year strategic plan; council to consider adoption March 27

City staff presented a draft five‑year strategic plan for Austin Animal Services (ASO) to the Austin Public Health Committee, outlining six focus areas and a framework of goals, strategies and performance measures that will guide implementation if the plan is adopted by city council.

Susana Carvajal, assistant city manager, introduced the plan and thanked the Animal Advisory Commission, staff, volunteers and community partners for contributing to the process. Audrey Munce, Budget and Performance Manager, described the planning process: a preparation phase beginning spring 2024, an assessment that included a community survey with more than 2,000 participants, staff and volunteer listening sessions (94 staff and about 40 volunteers), interviews with leadership and partners, and seven working workshops facilitated by consultant Dr. Larry Schueller.

Don Bland, chief animal services officer, summarized the plan’s six focus areas: humane care (shelter conditions and enrichment), spay and neuter access (continued contracting with a high‑capacity provider), open intake (maintaining capacity to accept animals), live‑release strategies (adoption, transfer and return‑to‑owner), public health and safety, and staff and volunteer recruitment and training. Bland said each goal includes measures and that ASO staff will develop targets during implementation and will return to council for policy, staffing or financing decisions that require council action.

Committee members asked about specifics: Council Member Velasquez asked how spay/neuter clinics are marketed; Bland said the city partners with the GoodFix (spay/neuter provider) clinics, supplements their press releases, uses social media, radio and TV and said each mobile clinic has performed over 1,000 surgeries. Velasquez also asked about shelter capacity; Bland said ASO takes roughly 40 intakes a day and that the shelter had been over capacity for large dogs by eight animals the prior day.

Committee members asked about prioritization across focus areas and data transparency. Munce said implementation planning will establish targets and timelines and that ASO will publish its measures and a progress dashboard; she said data will be supplied internally to the city’s CTM team to build the public dashboard and that updates could be made whenever metrics change.

Next steps: ASO staff said the strategic plan will be considered by city council on March 27; upon adoption ASO will develop an implementation plan with specific targets and timelines and return to council as needed for resource decisions.

Ending: Committee members thanked staff for the presentation and asked staff to provide implementation details and targets as the plan moves from draft to adoption.