Aug 17, 2021
You’re possible nicely conscious of the financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, together with the rising eviction disaster, which threatens to displace hundreds of thousands of People from their properties.
Evictions are on observe to be the primary motive cats and canine enter the general public shelter in Austin. Primarily based on our Pet Eviction Calculator, in Travis County alone a whopping 37,340 pets are at excessive threat of eviction.
If these evictions span the course of 60-90 days, as is anticipated, our shelters can be overwhelmed. The shelters will not be in a position to take in even a fraction of this variety of displaced pets, with out invoking mass euthanasia. We’d like your assist to stop the mindless lack of animals’ lives.
Individuals are already giving up their animals in anticipation of being evicted, and with the federal eviction moratorium expiring on October 3 we have now a really quick window to behave and forestall disaster.
There are two actions we’re asking of Austinites in the present day:
- Name and e mail the council members and town supervisor to make sure that animal welfare management is on the desk whereas options to mass evictions are being mentioned. It’s important that our authorities, particularly right here in Austin, doesn’t neglect how a lot pets imply to our residents. To maintain human-animal households collectively, we should plan now. This implies making certain transitional housing is pet inclusive, figuring out short-term boarding choices at Austin Animal Heart for folks being evicted, and offering assets and assist to pet house owners to assist them maintain their beloved relations.
Whenever you attain out, please say or write that we want actual options for the entire household, together with pets, and animal welfare management should play a key position within the metropolis’s eviction response.
- Become involved. If you wish to assist a pet proprietor dealing with eviction or different monetary disaster, be part of our efforts on the Austin Pets Alive! Optimistic Options to Shelter Give up (P.A.S.S.) Fb web page. This web page is ready as much as assist pet house owners who need assistance paying pet hire deposits or medical payments, who want to rehome their pet with out shelter give up, and who want short-term security internet foster caregivers. We’d like good Samaritans to affix as we put together for a lot of extra folks in want. One other approach you may get concerned is to remain tuned to your Nextdoor app and supply to assist a neighbor in want—you’ll be able to proactively put the message out or you’ll be able to wait till somebody posts a couple of want.
You’ll have heard Austin Pets Alive! championing the Human Animal Assist Companies (HASS) mannequin that turns industry-facing, shelter-based Animal Companies into outward-facing, community-centered Human Animal Assist Companies.
This elementary reimagining of Animal Companies addresses the basis causes of animal shelter consumption, with a view to serve extra pets of their communities and houses and to cut back the variety of pets coming into the shelter system. HASS associate shelters throughout the nation are making ready for the eviction disaster by increasing community-based sheltering choices, like short-term security internet fostering packages, proper now. You may learn extra about HASS’s instruments and assets for conserving households collectively by means of the eviction disaster right here.
We’ve got two decisions within the face of this catastrophic looming eviction disaster: let it occur and bemoan the mindless waste of pet life, or do one thing about it. I hope you’ll be part of APA! and do one thing about it, beginning in the present day.