Completion of feasibility study Participating cities must approve Georgetown's involvement in WCRAS The county must approve Georgetown's involvement in WCRAS Georgetown City Council calls for bond election Georgetown voters approve a November bond election to fund the shelter expansion
Each participating city in the Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter paid into its 2022-23 budget. Williamson County: $1.65 million
Cedar Park: $211,039 Leander: $228,479 Hutto: $135,000 Round Rock: $550,000
Before the Georgetown Animal Shelter can fold its operations into the Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter, a variety of steps would need to rst be taken.
$2.8M
SOURCES: WILLIAMSON COUNTY, CITY OF GEORGETOWNCOMMUNITY IMPACT
SOURCE: WILLIAMSON COUNTY REGIONAL ANIMAL SHELTERCOMMUNITY IMPACT
GRANT CRAWFORDCOMMUNITY IMPACT
in a separate two-story building with 64 additional canine kennels and 93 feline kennels. The shelter is considered at critical capacity when it has 170 dogs or more. As of early April, the shelter was caring for 182 dogs. “I don’t know that we’ve ever gotten into trouble with cats in the same way we are with dogs right now,” WCRAS Program Coordinator April Pei er said. “With dogs, we’ve been at critical capacity or beyond since May of last year.” When one shelter lls up, it can also have a “snow- ball e ect,” Haughey said. “Hypothetically, let’s just say Austin [shelters are] lling up,” she said. “Well, when they have more peo- ple wanting to surrender to a shelter, then they start branching out and trying other areas.” In FY 2021-22, 3,274 dogs were brought to the WCRAS. Of those, 721 were owner surrenders. At the city shelter, 134 of the 746 dogs it received were owner surrenders. “It would be great if we had responsible pet own- ers in our county that did not come to the county and try to return animals,” said Precinct 3 Commissioner Valerie Covey, who also chairs the WCRAS board. “We have plenty of animals, thank you very much. We would love for you to adopt more of them.” Funding and xes Ocials said it’s dicult to point to one cause of overcrowding, but rather it’s due to a combination of factors, including an increased population, rising in¦ation costs and less access to veterinary care. To handle the increased load, shelters are taking extra e orts to promote pet adoption, utilize volun- teers and make the most out of their space. The regional shelter sta and volunteers have ramped up e orts in recent months, spearhead- ing more adoption events and boosting community outreach e orts. The county also transports dogs to other states where shelters have room. Pei er said shelter spikes are surpassing available capacity even as the WCRAS budget continues to increase, rising to $2.8 million in FY 2022-23 from $2.6 million the year prior. In Georgetown, the city has increased its animal service budget from around $913,000 in FY 2020-21 to almost $1.3 million in FY 2022-23. The city shelter also utilizes volunteers. While sta handles the core functions of the facility, such as interacting with customers, answering phone calls and providing medical care, volunteers walk animals and do other essential tasks, such as
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The Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter takes in lost and stray animals from throughout the county.
Uniting forces The WCRAS is a combined e ort to assist the area’s pet population. Each participating entity pays for its portion of animal intake with Williamson County responsible for the majority—59.12%—of the $2.8 million budget in scal year 2022-23. Each city and the county would have to approve an agreement to bring in Georgetown. “If we’re struggling to keep our head above water now, … how are we going to manage the expanded capacity?” County Judge Bill Gravell said prior to vot- ing against the feasibility study. Georgetown has proposed spending around $10 million on an expansion to the WCRAS. Fund- ing for this expansion would come from a potential November bond. The city would also pay for its por- tion of the cost to run the facility. Jackson Daly, Georgetown’s assistant director of public works, said city ocials hope to structure the budget so it wouldn’t impact other cities’ costs. Georgetown spends roughly $800,000 of its $1.3 million animal services budget to maintain its facility and is in need of a larger city-run shelter if it doesn’t join the WCRAS. “It’s going to be less expensive for us to expand the regional animal shelter versus building a brand-new one for us,” Daly said. Capacity concerns The WCRAS dog population was at 165% capacity as of mid-April. The Georgetown shelter housed as many as 45 dogs in 29 kennels in recent months. In 2019, the WCRAS completed a $10.5 million ren- ovation and expansion, adding a new adoption center
FY 2021-22 cat, dog intake by jurisdiction:
Williamson County: 3,718
Cedar Park: 511 Leander: 423 Hutto: 359 Round Rock: 1,634
6,645
The Georgetown Animal Shelter takes in animals that are lost, strays or surrendered by their owner.
Dogs
Cats
1,297
800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0
1,384
1,263
FY 2020-21 FY 2021-22 FY 2019-20
SOURCES: GEORGETOWN ANIMAL SHELTER, WILLIAMSON COUNTY REGIONAL ANIMAL SHELTERCOMMUNITY IMPACT
laundry, Haughey said. “We couldn’t do half of what we do without our vol- unteer base,” she said. Daly said he hopes linking up with the WCRAS to expand its facility and budget will help both entities. The city has until Aug. 21 to call an election for the November ballot. If the bond fails, Daly said the city would be back to the drawing board to nd a way to expand its building or construct a new one. “There’s a lot of things that have to fall into place,” Daly said.
Due to several challenges, including a high rate of animal intakes, teams at local shelters are working to mitigate ongoing capacity issues.
Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter
Dog count:
Capacity:
NOTE: AS OF APRIL 24
For more information, visit communityimpact.com .
SOURCE: WILLIAMSON COUNTY REGIONAL ANIMAL SHELTER COMMUNITY IMPACT
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GEORGETOWN EDITION • MAY 2023
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