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In a four to one vote, the Hays County Commissioners decided on Mar. 25 to terminate the county’s contract with Austin Pets Alive! related to the Hays County Pet Resource, Education and Research Center. The vote also established a contract to plan and ultimately build a physical Pet Resource Center in addition to the online resources that were previously under the APA! contract.
This led to a community outpouring for public comment both in support of APA! in maintaining the contract and with requests that more funding go to local animal service organizations for these services instead. In public comment, Prevent a Litter of Central Texas pointed to all of the animal welfare programs they are already performing in the community as a reason that funds might be better spent with Hays County- based organizations.
The agenda item also stated that, in addition to terminating the contract with APA!, Hays County would move forward with a “professional services agreement with Broaddus & Associates, Inc. for project management services in order to partner with both local municipalities and nonprofit organizations to deliver the Hays County Pet Resource, Education and Research Center in a timely and costeffective manner.”
The four commissioners that voted in favor of the item all pointed to the possibility of a collaborative approach with resources dedicated to local organizations while still maintaining the work that has been done by the Pet Resource Center so far. They all said they would like a physical location to house the center in addition to the online resources.
In the agenda, it states that “the project will consist of possible land locations, ordinance update finalization, meeting with stakeholders to define potential options for a collaborative or standalone Pet Resource Center, defining facility requirements and presenting the options to commissioners court for final review and project implementation.”
However, a Facebook post by Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra posted after the meeting took issue with the actions.
“False claims were spread that terminating APA!’s contract would redirect funds to local organizations like PALS. In reality, no such plan existed, and this effort only deepened division in the local animal welfare community,” Becerra stated. “The truth is, this should never have been an either-or decision; collaboration was the key to success. Instead, a valuable partnership was cut short, leaving our community without critical resources. It’s also important to note that when the Request for Proposals for this contract was issued, no local entities qualified. The selection process was fair, transparent and approved by the Commissioners Court, ensuring APA! was awarded the contract through legitimate means.”
Becerra also said this new contract would lead to a new shelter, not a “Pet Resource, Education and Research Center.”
“With APA! gone, the county is now prioritizing shelter construction. While a shelter is necessary, it is not a solution on its own,” Becerra stated. “Without the preventative programs that helped families keep their pets and supported local rescues, we are doomed to repeat past mistakes [such as] an overcrowded shelter without long-term solutions.”
During commissioners court, there were many in public comment speaking out with concern over the termination of the contract.
Maggie Lynch, Austin Pets Alive! Research and Development senior director, told the court during public comment that she received notice that Hays County Commissioner Walt Smith had proposed an item to terminate APA!s contract with Hays County late on Friday, Mar. 21, just days before the meeting.
“What we read is that he proposed to use Broaddus & Associates, Inc. as a project manager for the PRC project, which would then partner with local groups to offer some services. We must question how a construction project management firm can be expected to design and implement an effective animal welfare system — an area outside their core competencies,” Lynch said.
Suzie Chase spoke as well and identified herself as part of the Austin Pets Alive! Hays County Pet Resource Center Project Team.
“Austin Pets Alive! Is a nationally recognized leader in animal welfare and a principle in the national collaborative to create the very model of Pet Resource Center [that the one in Hays County] is based on, the same model that was recommended in the feasibility study paid for by the county in 2022,” Chase said. “The unique experience that APA! brings to the project is the understanding of how to design and implement an effective animal welfare system. Without that system, which includes the right-sized shelter, programs that support people and their pets, and increased access to services, you’ll end up with the same kind of shelter that has failed our county’s animals previously.”
During commissioner’s court, Smith said that he had heard an announcement that APA! would have a space in the court for operation of the Pet Resource Center, but this was never approved by the court.
“We learned on Saturday that there was an announcement that this contract, that the contract provider would have this,” he said.
Smith said he believed some people were misunderstanding the item based on what he heard in public comment. He said he wrote the item very specifically, including the mention of Broaddus & Associates.
“At the end of the day, we’re not asking Broaddus to develop the programming wrapped around a resource center; we never did,” Smith said. “I think there was a large emphasis in a number of the public comments related to the 2022 needs assessment that was done by the county and was paid for. I think that I’m not alone when I say that the Needs Assessment was tragically flawed. … Whenever we were presented with that overall assessment we were told by those that completed it that they only interviewed three municipalities in our county.”
Smith said after realizing the full county was not included in the assessment, the court discussed “the need for regionalized assistance.”
“Since that time we have municipalities such as the city of Kyle who have stepped up and said, ‘we are building a facility,’” Smith said.
Smith said in the contract it stated they were to hire a grant writer to offset the cost to the county. He said any grants are required to be approved for submission as well as accepted, once received, by the court.
“I was very excited two weeks ago when I saw a public announcement that our Pet Resource Center received a grant from PetSmart, so I sent an email to our project coordinator and asked for all the background material related to the grant because we had never approved a grant or the solicitation of a grant through court on the front end as we should have if we were associated with it,” Smith said. “The response I got was the press release.”
Smith said he thought the pet food distributions that were completed by APA! “were great.”
“Under their contract, APA! provides one of those a quarter,” Smith said. “We have an organization in the courtroom today that did 14 last year.”
In a press release issued by APA!, it stated that over the past two years APA! has supported over 1,000 families through the virtual resource center, and, in partnership with the Central Texas Food Bank, has provided food and supplies to more than 2,100 pets in need.
“We are immensely proud of the work accomplished in Hays County,” said Lee Ann Shenefiel, Hays County Pet Resource center director and executive advisor. “Our mission has always been to promote and provide the resources, education and programs needed to eliminate the killing of companion animals and keep pets out of the shelter system. While our formal partnership is ending, our commitment to the welfare of animals remains steadfast.”
Hays County Commissioner Debbie Gonzales Ingalsbe said in court that she is still committed to supporting programming efforts that have already been started.
“I understand the need and desire of maybe having the right sized facility built because of programming, but I think that those efforts can be accomplished by working with our municipalities and local organizations. I’ve had many people reach out to me also — municipalities, especially the city of Kyle — and they’re extremely interested in partnering with us,” Ingalsbe said. “I think that is a direction that we really need to look at seriously. I think we can get a center quicker.”
Hays County Commissioner Michelle Cohen said everyone wants to help the pet community and that is “clear.”
“This contract honestly didn’t sit well for me because I could not figure out the where and the how, the tangible things that are needed,” Cohen said. “Over the past few days, I’ve gotten the same phone calls and emails from the cities, from neighbors not understanding what this contract is about and wanting us to provide more support to our local organizations that are actually doing the work right now. I can’t ignore that.”
Cohen said it is obvious to her who is out there “doing the work.”
“I’ve had PALS at my precinct doing microchipping and vaccines. From my perspective, that’s tangible work that’s being done,” Cohen said. “I agree that we do need a physical location eventually, and I know those discussions are being had; and I know those discussions are being had by Broaddus. Like Commissioner Ingalsbe said there is some change in vision and what that looks like right now.”
Lauren Foye, with PALS, said that PALS knows best practices for the county and questioned some of the prices under the APA! contract.
“We do know best practices with programs, and we’re actually doing them extremely well with very little funding. We’re not talking about running a shelter. We don’t want to run a shelter, but as far as all the programs that are in the feasibility study,” Foye said. “Here is the difference between what APA! is offering you and what we are. Year 4 — over $400,000 almost — you’re going to get 10,020 TNR [trap neuter release] cats. We did that last year with zero funding. I don’t really know the comparison. I’ve had a really hard time trying to make sense of this. … What are your deliverables for this amount of money? … What deliverables do you all have of what it’s actually doing in the community? We’re local. We know what we’re doing, and we’re successful at it.”
A letter from San Marcos Mayor Jane Hughson was read in support of PALS.
“PALS is the only nonprofit in the 680 miles of Hays County communities to offer spay/neuter for the pets of the economically vulnerable residents. For over 20 years, PALS has been working to end pet overpopulation and euthanasia,” Hughson said. “I give their programs my recommendation and support. Save money, fund PALS.”
Hays County Commissioner Morgan Hammer recommended working together to solve the problem.
“There’s a lot of ‘he said, she said,’” Hammer said. “We’ve gotta work together. You all want the same goal. You want to help these dogs and get them into good places. Let’s let that fuel our fire. … Let’s work together. What programs are PALS better at? What programs is Austin Pets Alive! good at? … I don’t understand why we did a bid and did it all in one. … The shelter, in my opinion, should be separate from programs, and they should work hand-in-hand with each other. PALS doesn’t want to run a shelter; they made that very clear.”
Hammer added that she didn’t want to look at the termination of this contract as getting rid of APA! entirely but a chance to establish a plan.
Becerra wanted to respond to some of the concerns made in public comment. He said in court on March 25 that there is a narrative out there that the county doesn’t fund PALS, but “nothing could be further from the truth.”
“Yearly, I vote for thousands and thousands of dollars to go to PALS,” Becerra said. “In 2020, we gave them $20,625, and … in the last five years, we’ve given them almost a quarter of a million dollars. In ‘24, we gave them three times the money from 2020 — $60,000.”
Becerra said the county has every intention of partnering with someone to build a physical building because it is needed. However, he believes the programs provided under the contract with APA! are also needed.
“However, the APA! contract for the Pet Resource Center is tied to systems not the bricks and mortar,” Becerra said. “Pulling the APA! idea out of the bricks and mortar isn’t going to end the reality that we’re still on hot pursuit for a bricks and mortar that we could, in some way, help shape and control because that’s important; we need it.”
In his statement on Facebook, Becerra pointed to the programs that were achieved by the APA! during the contract with the county, including providing food and supplies for more than 2,100 pets, collaborating with local organizations like PALS, WAG, PAWS, Cat Tip Hays and Thundering PAWS to improve animal welfare in the county, and providing support for local cities by providing resources and promoting responsible pet ownership.
Becerra pointed out during court that when the Request for Proposals went out for the initial contract for the Pet Resource Center, APA! is the only one that applied.
Becerra was the only vote on the commissioners court against terminating the contract with APA!
