SAN MARCOS — An Animal Welfare Services Division within the Hays County Health Department was approved at the Hays County Commissioners Court's April 8 meeting.
According to agenda documents, this follows the decision to cancel the contract with Austin Pets Alive! (APA!) at the March 25 meeting: “ … it has been assessed that it would be beneficial for the program management of the county’s animal welfare services to be housed internally." The department will continue the work of animal services outlined by APA!.
Commissioner Walt Smith, who previously brought forth the agenda item to terminate the contract, stated that he felt that “it was obvious” that there needed to be someone in the county to move forward with these projects.
“I think that this division, housed in the public health department, gives us roots; it gives us oversight. It’ll have people there that will be experts that will be able to guide us in the future about what our Animal Health Department looks like and it’ll bring this one health approach in our community,” said commissioner Michelle Cohen.
The presentation noted that the Animal Welfare Services Division aims to integrate animal welfare with public health initiatives, focusing on addressing animal protection, shelter diversion, pet support services and enforcement training, while also enhancing public health through education and support.
While addressing current gaps in animal services, such as fragmented responsibilities across agencies and a lack of structured eligibility-based veterinary service models, Hays County Health Department Director Matthew Gonzales explained that there are currently no county-managed initiatives: “We know that in animal services at the moment, we do not have a dedicated animal services division. What that means is, as a county, we have to rely on external contracts and partners to provide us clarity and strategic advice on how we should provide animal services to the community.”
Opportunities for a public health approach include cost-effective service delivery, community-centric solutions through Human Animal Support Services (HASS) and strengthening pet retention, reunification and access to veterinary care, read the presentation.
HASS is a community-first movement to service people and pets equally, according to its website. Launched in April 2020, it was co-founded by APA! in collaboration with industry leaders, with hopes to manage the sheltering crisis through education, data and policy.
Gonzalez noted that other municipalities that house animal welfare services within the health department include the Galveston County Health District, the city of Brownsville and Harris County.
“We have a sense of urgency to act fast and respond to community needs and services,” said the director. “This timeline really tries to get us up and going, taking off from where the contract with APA! ended, making sure that there’s no gaps in the forecasted deliverables and trying to obtain them as fast as possible.”
The implementation timeline is as follows: hire key personnel to support the program list, establish administrative framework and governance, develop foundational policies and ordinances, launch public awareness and marketing campaigns and implement case management and call center services.
“Now, on this agenda item, my concern is absolutely a fiscal one,” said Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra.
“What we looked at was the existing budget of the APA! contract and the month-to-month invoicing, ensuring that program that we’re proposing doesn’t exceed that monthly cost that was through APA!. This actually comes out about, I believe, $5,000 shorter a month, [which] would let us repurpose the $5,000 for additional contract services, if we needed to,” said Gonzales.
The projected initial investment, according to agenda documents, monthly is:
Human and animal support services manager: $7,630 salary and fringe
Human and animal support services coordinator: $6,576 salary and fringe
Human and animal support services specialist: $5,681 salary and fringe
In addition to this, there would be a need for three laptops, peripherals and software.
“Although the termination of the contract has been made [with APA!], we have a real need to reach out to them — if you can pull it off — because they were awarded … more than $2 million to serve our community with, for food and all of these pieces,” said Becerra, in hopes that the money that APA! was awarded through PetSmart can still serve Hays County.
“I think this proposal inherently relies on that continued partnership with APA!, with [Prevent A Litter], with other local pet resources within our community because, again, everybody brings different strengths and weaknesses to the table,” Gonzalez replied. “I hope that this position and this program will really, finally add the organized government voice into this and the coordination amongst the nonprofits.”
The item passed unanimously.
In addition to the conversation surrounding animal services, both Cohen and commissioner Debbie Ingalsbe were designated in a 5-0 vote to negotiate with the city of Kyle on behalf of the county regarding animal services.
The Hays County Commissioners Court will meet next April 22.
