wonderful experience visiting aas! staff were all very informative and helpful, including volunteers, and we felt welcomed by everyone. so many sweet babies, while we were only visiting and wanted to say hi, so many of these little ones were very adoptable :) facility was clean and animals looked well cared for, and they even had a section of animals with waved adoption fees in crates who were in poor condition, in need of more support (like a high energy pup who'd thrive more in a home than the shelter), or had been there for awhile.
They will not help with strays. I found two dogs at the dog park that were clearly bonded. Took 3 hours to get them in my car. It was late so I bathed them, fed them, and they stayed with me overnight. I already have 1 dog and 1 rabbit in an apartment complex. I could not keep these dogs. Took them here first thing when they opened and I was one of the 1st in line. We were denied. They will not take in strays' same day. It is by appointment. RIDICULOUS. The next appt was set for 3/31. I cannot keep these dogs until the 31st! If you leave them there and walk away, they will have your plates taken down and you will be charged with abandonment of an animal. SO, IF YOU FIND AN ADANDONED ANIMAL AND TRY TO BRING IT TO THEM TO HELP AND THEY DENY YOU THEY WILL PUT CHARGES ON YOU FOR LEAVING THEM THERE!!! MAKE THAT MAKE SENSE!!!? LIKE WHAT IS THE POINT OF THIS PLACE??!! I care more than they do. Disgusting! I had a full-on breakdown. THANKFULLY the Austin Humane Society took them in. They were also so compassionate and sweet unlike this place. Avoid this place at all costs! They do not care about the animals. Donate to Austin Humane Society.
I encourage anyone considering adopting from this shelter to do their research and ask detailed questions about an animal’s health before taking them home. Last week, I adopted a kitten from this shelter and was told she was healthy. Within 20 minutes of leaving, she began passing bloody stool. She was visibly ill, and I learned she had been spayed while weighing less than 2 lbs at 11 weeks.
Less than 24 hours after adoption, I rushed her to an emergency veterinarian as she was passing so much blood. I was told she had worms and was started on medication. Even then, I expressed concerns that something more serious was going on because of the severity of her symptoms. Those concerns were dismissed, and after returning home, she continued to pass significant amounts of blood in her stool.
The next day, her condition rapidly deteriorated. Her legs stopped functioning properly, and shortly afterward, she died.
From the moment I realized she was sick, I attempted to contact the shelter by phone and email. I received no meaningful response until later, when I was told that my only option was to return her to the shelter while she was still alive.
This experience was devastating and completely unacceptable. I understand shelters are overcrowded and operating under difficult circumstances, but adopting out severely ill animals while representing them as healthy is not an acceptable solution. At best, this reflects a serious failure in medical assessment and communication. At worst, it is negligence!
I had this kitten for only five days. In those five days, I went from the excitement of welcoming a new family member into my home to burying her and trying to understand how this happened. I did everything I could to help her. The shelter did not. I am heartbroken, angry, and deeply disappointed by how this situation was handled. Because of this experience, I will not be adopting from or supporting this shelter again. Shame on this shelter.
The absolute best!! Everyone I encountered seemed to love the animals and their jobs. We are so grateful for our new pup and they made the process make so much sense, and with so much kindness. Please go find your next furever friend here!
Their social media is great and the volunteers care a lot about the animals and are passionate about their work. However my fostering experience was negative. I had an 11am appointment right when they open. I arrived at 1105 and was told I was "in the queue" for the only person able to allow foster pickup. I waited FORTY MINUTES to speak to someone and that was only after flagging down a third person to find out what was going on. The explanation was "a few people showed up before you without appointments" I checked in five minutes late because there was a line of us waiting to come in when it opened. Why on earth are random people without appointments taken care of right away? I took time out of the workday to pickup during was not great either. My cat had a serious vocalization issue and when I brought it up (hoping they would have insight or help me rule out a medical problem) and mentioned it wasn't sustainable as a way to show urgency and how serious it was, they said "well if you think it's not sustainable you can always bring her back". How can they make all these posts trying to guilt everyone into fostering, and then be so disorganized and uncaring when it comes to check in, and so quick to tell people to bring them back to the shelter?! My foster cat was very shy and her adoptable qualities really came out in foster and I like to think that helped her get adopted as she was able to have photos that weren't of her in a cage where she was hissing all the time. If I had given up during the horrible check in process, or when the very first reply to my email was "you can give her back" who knows how much longer she would have stayed in the shelter being a cat in a kennel not allowed to interact with people and hissing at anyone who tried to interact?
This used to be the town lake animal center aka where you adopt a dog. This is a nice facility compared to the old location. It feels more like a campus than a dog adoption center. The dogs have access to AC as well as a reasonably sized space.
Staff is friendly and attentive. They have a nice play space to interact and walk dogs. It's worth visiting before thinking of buying a cat/dog/rabbit/guinea pig. They mostly have dogs and cats. Adoption fees can range from free to about $200.00 depending on age and condition. Check out their website for info. On available pets. You might find a great friend!
I came here to get a cat last Friday and fell head over heels in love with one of the desperate house cats. She had been in the shelter 6 months and was really struggling with her environment. She has a chronic eye condition and the shelter was great at educating me on how bad the issue is, how much of a financial burden the issues could be and what to look for. They also prepared me for worst case scenarios with her issues and how to prevent it. Dolly has been with us a week now and we can’t imagine our little family without her!! She loves people and has made many new friends in the past week who all love her very much and have already enthusiastically offered to pet sit. I’m sad that she was overlooked so many times because of the changes in her eyes but I will be forever grateful that I was the one who got to take her home ❤️ Pictures of our baby for reference
Got my cat here two month ago and she is so sweet and cute. No health issues aside from a cold when I got her. She came with all her vaccines and a sturdy carrier.