The goal of one animal control organization is to make Austin a "no kill" city in three to five years.
EmanciPet has had the goal for a while, but the organization now has a plan and a permanent facility to help reach it. The nonprofit, which has traveled around the city in mobile units for years offering spay and neuter services, opened a new stationary clinic on Airport Boulevard Saturday.
"The size of the building is set up to handle four doctors who can theoretically do 30 to 40 animals a day each. Right now we only have [one or two] doctors a day doing surgery. So we're between 30 and 60 every day," EmanciPet Executive Director Ellen Jefferson said.
The organization hopes to quintuple that number by getting additional funding.
EmanciPet says its plan will greatly reduce the number of stray animals that end up at the Town Lake Animal Center.
 |  |
 | |  |
| | | | | | | |
New digs, same goal
With new headquarters, EmanciPet hopes to spay and neuter enough pets to significantly cut the number of animals that end up at the Town Lake Animal Center.
 
| | |
| | | | | |
|
"Anything that anybody in the community does to try to increase the number of animals that are spayed or neutered decreases the number of unwanted litters of puppies and kittens, and down the line farther, decreases the number of animals that are unwanted," Town Lake Animal Center spokesperson Amber Rowland said.
The center receives about 21,000 animals a year. EmanciPet wants to decrease that number by more than half.
"We don't have to get the shelter number down to zero. We just need to get that to about 10,000 because that's what they can adopt out and rescue out on a yearly basis," Jefferson said.
EmanciPet offers free spay and neuter clinics on different days. Check its website calendar for more details.
