No Kill Foot-dragging by TLAC Management

It has been a month and a half since the Austin City Council passed the historic No Kill Implementation Plan, which required the City's Animal Services Staff to issue a formal Request for Proposal ("RFP") from non-profit entities to run the Adoptions program at TLAC next year. Yet alarmingly, Animal Services has not released any information regarding the RFP, what it might contain, when it will be issued, or even a basic time frame for the process.

The public has a right to know: Why has the RFP not been issued? Has a deadline been set by which the RFP must be issued? If not, why not?

If the RFP does not go out soon, the City Council's will may be entirely thwarted by a shelter management that continues to embrace killing over obvious lifesaving solutions. Sadly, once again, it seems we are faced with a reluctant and stonewalling attitude by management to implementing the policies and procedures approved by Council on March 11th--- stonewalling that shows just exactly how right the Austin American-Statesman’s Editorial Board was when it wrote on March 18th:

…”the city needs to get moving on hiring a nonprofit to manage the city's animal adoption programs and make good on its promise to keep the current shelter open for at least six months (preferable longer) after the new one opens next year…For their part, Austin residents must continue their vigilance to make sure that Ott does not permit those directly overseeing the Town Lake Animal Center to again drop the ball on this priority…Austin has a good plan. But even the best plan can languish without a champion. And that is what Austin needs now.”

The citizens of Austin must demand that the City's Animal Services be accountable, and that the will of the people--- and the City Council--- not continue to be thwarted. Please take a moment to e-mail the Austin City Council and ask that the City issue the No Kill RFP immediately. You can e-mail all of them at once at this link: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/council/groupemail.htm

Thank you,

The FixAustin.org Team