Austin City Council to take up rules around spaying pregnant animals

AUSTIN (KXAN) — There are several major items on Austin City Council’s agenda Thursday. Here’s some of what we’re watching.

Spaying pregnant animals at AAC

Austin leaders are once again discussing whether or not to undo a city code that prohibits Austin’s city shelter from spaying a visibly pregnant animal (unless medically necessary) until rescue groups have had the chance to step in.

After the budget elements of that proposal were approved by city council earlier this year, the actual code change will be taken up Thursday — and is likely to get pushback from animal advocacy groups like Austin Pets Alive!.

We told you previously the resolution would amend city code to “allow for veterinarians employed by the City to spay and neuter all animals owned by the City without delay or notification,” according to the agenda item. It would also “restore veterinary decision-making regarding spaying and neutering animals owned by the City.”

Under the current code, which comes from a 2019 ordinance, organizations such as Austin Pets Alive! are notified before an animal at AAC that has reached full-term pregnancy is spayed, which would terminate the pregnancy and “abort” the fetuses.

APA! can then take in the pregnant animal, rather than AAC keeping the animal and spaying it and terminating the pregnancy. APA! would then be responsible for caring for and adopting out the animal and the puppies/kittens born from that pregnancy.

APA! is against the change to that rule and Dr. Ellen Jefferson, APA! president and CEO, spoke to KXAN during the budget process.

“If this goes through, then there would be no government mandate that requires any kind of transparency about the animals that are at Austin Animal Center and are vulnerable and need help, and need to go to an organization like ours, where they can go into a foster home and raise their babies and then go on and get spayed and neutered. And so we find this deeply troubling,” she said.

A spokesperson for council member Krista Laine, who introduced the resolution, provided more details about what impact the resolution would have.

According to Laine’s office, the resolution “serves multiple purposes,” and would have a budgetary impact in the form of about $280,000 saved.

Laine’s office said there were 690 animals born at AAC “in the last few years as a result of delayed pickup of pregnant animals,” and that transfers to APA! in that same time period gave birth to nearly 1,400 puppies and kittens.

According to Laine’s office, “caring for an equivalent number of animals to those born as a result of this ordinance cost the City of Austin $278,893 in 2023 alone.”

You can read KXAN’s previous coverage of this topic here.

Purple pipes pilot program

Council members will also vote on whether they want to continue the ‘Go Purple’ pilot incentive program next year. It encourages new developments to tap into the city’s water re-use system by helping pay for that connection.

What does all that mean? Simply — there are a series of pipes underground that connect some homes and businesses to wastewater treatment facilities. Once there, what you flush and rinse with can be purified and sent back into the system for non-drinking purposes. Think watering lawns and flushing toilets.

But connecting to that system is expensive and the incentive program helps new developments pay to do so.

“Right now, we’re in that application stage of figuring out if the project meets the requirements but there are a number of entities and projects that have tried to get these dollars and enroll in this program, so I do think it is going to work,” Austin City Council Member Ryan Alter said.

City documents show Austin Water would dedicate $4 million to that pilot next year, if approved. Of that, projects would be capped at $500,000 — unless they are affordable housing developments, which will instead be capped at $1.5 million.

That money comes from Austin Water’s budget — through your water bill fees.