Austin Motel
Ick at the Intake
RECEIVED Wed., June 14, 2023
Dear Editor,
I just drove to the Austin Animal Center to drop off the two kittens we trapped last night only to learn they don’t open for intake until peak traffic rush hours and even then, only for four hours. I’m not sure what kind of devious Hell Spawn would come up with this kind of “Born in the Bowels of Hades” plan but it reeks of the sulphurous odor as the kind of thing only an attorney who “Met the Devil at the Crossroads at Midnight” early in their career and took the deal on their soul would come up with.
Just one more way for the city, its managers, its elected officials and management to cover its very, very poor planning when it adopted its deeply flawed “No Kill Resolution.” That Resolution was based on “reaction instead of proaction,” adoption over prevention, patchwork instead of a well thought out plan.
The Austin Neighborhood Council warned our elected leaders not just once but twice. Every large animal related group with the exception of Austin Pets Alive tried to warn our then elected leaders. A number of other organizations from Political clubs to neighborhood associations even the Austin Police Association tried to warn them but getting elected went to the then council members’ heads and all they could think about was getting reelected.
Council Member Ora Houston was the only one who put the good of the City and the good of the pets above her own political aspirations.
So here we are. We used to be able to surrender any animal 24 hours a day but with Austin Pets Alive running things back then and even now stacking our city’s Animal Advisory Commission, well here we are with a stitched together Frankenstein Monster of a No Kill plan that while it may get great headlines? No one ever talks about the true cost and the dumping of animals in the county or the free animals adopted out to anyone sober enough to stand up without falling over to fill out an application.
I just drove to the Austin Animal Center to drop off the two kittens we trapped last night only to learn they don’t open for intake until peak traffic rush hours and even then, only for four hours. I’m not sure what kind of devious Hell Spawn would come up with this kind of “Born in the Bowels of Hades” plan but it reeks of the sulphurous odor as the kind of thing only an attorney who “Met the Devil at the Crossroads at Midnight” early in their career and took the deal on their soul would come up with.
Just one more way for the city, its managers, its elected officials and management to cover its very, very poor planning when it adopted its deeply flawed “No Kill Resolution.” That Resolution was based on “reaction instead of proaction,” adoption over prevention, patchwork instead of a well thought out plan.
The Austin Neighborhood Council warned our elected leaders not just once but twice. Every large animal related group with the exception of Austin Pets Alive tried to warn our then elected leaders. A number of other organizations from Political clubs to neighborhood associations even the Austin Police Association tried to warn them but getting elected went to the then council members’ heads and all they could think about was getting reelected.
Council Member Ora Houston was the only one who put the good of the City and the good of the pets above her own political aspirations.
So here we are. We used to be able to surrender any animal 24 hours a day but with Austin Pets Alive running things back then and even now stacking our city’s Animal Advisory Commission, well here we are with a stitched together Frankenstein Monster of a No Kill plan that while it may get great headlines? No one ever talks about the true cost and the dumping of animals in the county or the free animals adopted out to anyone sober enough to stand up without falling over to fill out an application.
Delwin Goss
