Only about a year ago did I hear about the group, Austin Pets Alive!. They've been around for awhile know but this past year the group has made TREMENDOUS strides for animals in Austin and since them my involvement and excitement with them has been growing and growing.
What Austin Pets Alive does is take animals that are on the kill list at the city shelter, place them in foster homes, treat them for any medical problems they have (because treatable diseases such as mange, kennel cough, heartworms, even parvo does not mean that a dog should be automatically killed), and get them adopted. They have already saved almost 5,000 animals in the past two years.
As we know, this past March the City Council passed a plan made by Animal Advisory Commission to get Austin on it's way to becoming a NO-KILL City. Under this plan the commission designated Austin Pets Alive! to officially work with the city shelter to reform it and to lower the kill rate.
Now these groups want to take it even further and are proposing a ban on the sale of retail companion animals. (That means bye, bye Petland!). Yes, it could happen. We've come so far already and this could be the next big step in really making Austin a no-kill city.
We need to show our support and get out to the Animal Advisory Commission meeting this JUNE 2. There will be many animal supporters there but there will also be many angry breeders and pet store owners there battling us. We need to show that we care more about this than they do.
ANIMAL ADVISORY COMMISSION
SPECIAL MEETING AND PUBLIC HEARING
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 2, 2010
6:00 PM
AUSTIN ENERGY BUILDING, FIRST FLOOR ASSEMBLY ROOM
721 BARTON SPRINGS ROAD
AUSTIN, TEXAS
AGENDA
CALL TO ORDER
1. CITIZEN COMMUNICATION: GENERAL
The first 10 speakers signed up prior to the meeting being called to order will each be allowed a three-minute allotment to address their concerns regarding items not posted on the agenda.
- PUBLIC HEARING
-
- Proposed Amendments to the Pet Trader Ordinance
- Proposed Ordinance Banning Retail Sales of Companion Animals
- NEW BUSINESS
-
- Discuss and take appropriate action on the Proposed Amendments to the Pet Trader Ordinance.
- Discuss and take appropriate action on Proposed Ordinance Banning Retail Sales of Companion Animals.
- ADJOURNMENT
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sounded like it was a positive thing...it got good coverage, and David Lundstedt was quoted often in the article ;)
I wasn't able to make it either... I really want to know how it went though
I am sorry we weren't able to make it to the meeting yesterday. I am curious to hear how it went..
Thanks for catching that Timothy. Did anybody make it to the meeting?
KXAN covered the topic: http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/local/law-could-stop-controversial-pet-sales
Great post. I encourage as many as people as possible to attend and support this ban! If you do go, here is something you might mention:
Austin is making a big deal about being a "green" city with numerous expensive initiatives to that end. Breeding and selling dogs runs completely counter to this goal.
According to Time to Eat the Dog?: The Real Guide to Sustainable Living, a medium-sized dog has more than twice the carbon footprint of a Toyota Landcruiser SUV running a typical number of miles per year.
Of course, we want to educate people about the way puppy mill dogs are treated. Still, I thought this point about the environment might catch some people by surprise and give them something to think about.
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