SAN MARCOS — The partnership between Hays County and Austin Pets Alive! (APA!) in relation to the planned Hays County Pet Resource, Education and Research Center (Hays PRC) is coming to a conclusion.
This follows the Hays County Commissioners Court voting 4-1 — with Judge Ruben Becerra dissenting — during its March 25, meeting to terminate the current contract with APA! and evaluate how to proceed with animal services in the county. In the motion by commissioner Walt Smith, who requested that the item be placed on the agenda, the county is terminating the contract for professional services for the creation of a pet resource center held by APA! and directs Broaddus & Associates, Inc. to work directly with local municipalities and nonprofit organizations to deliver a pet resource and education center in a “timely and cost-effective manner.”
APA! was awarded the contract by Hays County in 2023 to coordinate two programs — the Positive Alternatives to Shelter Surrender (P.A.S.S.) program, launched in January 2024, and a Lost and Found Pet Program, which was slated to be launched March 31, 2025. The P.A.S.S. program was designed to help owners keep their pet instead of surrendering them to the shelter; according to APA!, the program has supported 1,159 families and, through the integration with the San Marcos Regional Animal Shelter (SMRAS), response time to residents reaching out to the shelter for owner surrender assistance was reduced from more than two weeks to 24 hours or less.
The commissioners court finalized the terms of the contract awarded to APA! to continue its work for Hays PRC in 2024. The contract was awarded for a one-year period between Dec. 1, 2024, through Nov. 30, 2025, with the possibility of adding additional programs and/or extending the contract, according to APA!.
“It cancels the contract that we have with APA! and we currently have a contract with Broaddus & Associates to help coordinate the development of this facility. It gives clear direction to Broaddus on who they need to work with and that they need to do it in a time-effective manner, pursuant to really looking at that timetable that we have with the San Marcos Regional Animal Shelter [SMRAS],” Smith explained his motion, as SMRAS will be retiring as Hays County’s intake facility at the end of 2026.
“We know that we have local municipalities that are moving forward with facilities and we know there are local nonprofits that have already acquired facilities and provide those services,” Smith continued. “This directs them to try to figure out the best way to incorporate those things.”
Over the past two years, according to the APA!, it has achieved several milestones, including supporting thousands of families through the virtual resource center — as currently, there is not a physical, brick-and-mortar location — in partnership with the Central Texas Food Bank, providing food and supplies to more than 2,100 pets in need. Between 2024-25, the Hays PRC provided food and supplies to 2,172 pets and 1,080 households.
Community response
At the March 25 meeting, there were several people who spoke during the public comment section of the agenda item in reference to the contract.
APA! Senior Director of Research and Development Maggie Lynch said that her team was given notice Friday, March 21, that commissioner Smith had introduced the agenda item, proposing to end the contract that APA! entered into “in good faith.” She questioned how a construction project management firm — Broaddus & Associates — can be expected to design and implement an effective animal welfare system in an area outside of their core competencies.
“This is not simply a construction project. It requires a deep understanding of best practices in animal services, which are both sheltering and community program services, which work together in a shared system,” Lynch shared. “The proposal to have a company that has already demonstrated little understanding of a system proposed in the 2022 feasibility study and to partner with animal welfare groups simply because they are local, but without the qualifications to carry out recommendations, is fundamentally flawed and will ultimately fail to address the needs of county residents.”
While APA! understands the concerns surrounding overcapacity at SMRAS and the short timeline given to build a facility, Lynch said simply building another facility will not solve the underlying problems: “Expanding infrastructure treats the symptoms and not the cause. We must ask, what are the root causes for the high number of animals in shelters? Have we analyzed the changes in community pet ownership, economic factors [and] access to veterinary care in a county that is rapidly growing and changing?”
Ellen Jefferson, president and CEO of APA!, is a veterinarian and the founder of Emancipet spay and neuter clinic, along with APA! and San Antonio Pets Alive! She explained that she has personally seen SMRAS struggle for the last 25 years and “it has been demoralizing to see it over and over again not be able to serve the needs of the community or the pets in the community.”
“[There is a] misconception that we don't want an expedited timeline, [but] we actually do. We would love to work with you on doing this faster. We know how to start and run shelters. We know how to build shelters, brick-and-mortar. We know how government shelters run intimately and the specific regulatory needs that you have. We know spay and neuter inside and outside,” Jefferson said. “Although we don’t want to run that, our plan all along was to contract with organizations, like [Pet Prevent a Litter (PALS)], to do the work and it was not funded in the contract for 2025 so, that is why that has not happened yet. We know that you need a plan fast for the 2,500-plus animals that are not going to have a place to go in 2026 and that is something that was unexpected when all of these contract negotiations and our proposal was sent forward. We are the organization with the experience and expertise to help you solve the problem and to do it all from soup to nuts.”
Another individual in the public comment period, Diane Welker, shared that for the calendar year 2024, she paid $24,000 in taxes to Hays County, so she “has a vested interest in how our taxes are spent.” For her, she wants complete transparency between the county and its taxpayers.
“The staffing listed in the contract are APA! hires, so this constitutes a use of taxpayer money. The contract stipulates numerous times that the P.A.S.S. resource is virtual, so I am a little surprised that they have been given a taxpayer-maintained office in this historic building. The total funding amounts for PRC staff, salaries, etc. go from $383,000 this year to half a million dollars annually within three years. The salaries for program coordinator, marketing manager and alike are double what a Hays police officer makes … The salary for the program coordinator is just barely below that of [the] county judge and the salaries have a raise included of five to six percent every year, which is not even happening in [the] private sector.”
Welker continued, stating that the 2025 county budget for PALS is $35,000, which is the same as 2024. During 2024, with $60,000 total — with $35,000 being from the county’s budget — PALS provided services for 6,375 animals in total, Welker said. They provided 1,496 vouchers for free spay and neuter and microchips, only 49% of which were covered by county funding and the rest had to be donations. Additionally, they provided 1,289 cat trap neuter and release services — none of which was covered by county funding, Welker said — and those cats were also given rabies and FVRCP vaccines.
“Since I last spoke to you, I also publicly asked for help in understanding why our Hays organizations are only getting one-tenth of what we are giving to a corporation from Travis County. I did not receive any response to that, other than being blocked by a representative of this court,” she stated. “Since the contract from APA! exceeds the budget approved by another $20,000, today, I am really asking that we have complete transparency with our taxpayers on contract deliverables and timelines, as well as ensure that all the groups, especially those already doing the work, are also receiving an equitable amount of funding.”
Discussion
Following the public comments, commissioner Smith laid out why he chose to put this contract and item on the agenda, which includes transparency concerns and that there is currently no clear direction.
“The San Marcos Regional Animal Center [is] in a crisis and I think we all agree they are in a crisis. But, at this point … I think that we are operating and accounting in a county where we have so many people that care about the same thing. There’s 800 different organizations in our county, that’s an exaggeration, but there are a number of different organizations in our county that truly want the same outcome,” he said. “They want a successful outcome for our pets here and for those residents who are associated with it and at the end of the day, I truly envision that this contract was a means to that end. A good coordination effort on how to get that done.”
His fear is two-fold, said Smith, “We are paying for services that either aren't being contractually met under the contract or haven't been done. The partners that have been serving with us for decades not only feel ostracized, but they feel like there is a big brother looking over their shoulder with everything and they cannot or will not be able to work with the county in the future or any of our regional, area, local municipal partners without somebody else in their chili — I don’t know another metaphor to use.”
He added that he wants a facility to address the needs of the county and he wants it sooner, rather than later, sharing that there are partners who are already working on that, such as the city of Kyle, who has proposed an animal shelter project. Smith also clarified that at the end of the day, the court did not ask for Broaddus to develop the programming wrapped around a pet resource center; there is an existing contract between Hays County and the firm for the development of a physical facility.
There was an Animal Shelter and Animal Shelter Services Feasibility Study conducted in 2022 with the purpose of the consultants — Team Shelter USA and Animal Arts — proposing an appropriate animal welfare system in Hays County, due to potential growth in the region.
While there were several individuals in public comments who touched on and emphasized the 2022 feasibility study, Smith said that the needs assessment “was tragically flawed.”
“The scope and the outlook of that needs assessment specifically said that we needed the people who conducted that to do outreach to all of our community partners and to every municipality that entrusts Hays County to handle their pet service needs. Whenever we were presented with that overall assessment, we were told by those who had completed it that they had only interviewed three municipalities in our county,” he said. “We don't operate in a county where we just listen to three of our children. I don't know about your household, but if I only listened to one of the three, I would be in trouble. And we all have different needs. At that point, we discussed the need for regionalized assistance. When I say regionalized assistance, [I mean] to literally review those operating entities that we have here that have facilities on the east side, on the far west side to look at how we can incorporate them into an overall concept to provide services here.”
Another commissioner, Debbie Ingalsbe, said that she is committed to supporting the program efforts that the county already started. While she understands the need and desire of having the right-size facility built because of programming, Ingalsbe also said those efforts can be accomplished by working with the municipalities and local organizations.
Commissioner Michelle Cohen said that the contract initially did not “sit well” with her because she was struggling with figuring out the where, how and other tangible aspects that are needed. She explained that the majority of people are wanting the county to support the organizations that are local.
“Over the past few days, I have 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 and I cannot ignore that as a commissioner,” Cohen said. “I was writing down who was for who and for what and the overwhelming voice is to support our local organizations. I mean, I don't know why the county has never supported local. I don't have that answer, but I do know who is truly out there doing the work.”
Listening to the people of Hays County and what they want and need is important, said commissioner Morgan Hammer. Within the last few months of her beginning her tenure as a Hays County commissioner, Hammer said she has received multiple calls, text messages and emails related to this topic. She said that the county and community should not see this as a termination of contract, but rather as a “Hey, let’s cancel. Let’s come back to the drawing board and let’s establish a plan.”
“The APA! contract is tied to systems, not the bricks and mortar and so, pulling the APA! idea out of a bricks and mortar is not going to end the reality that we are still on hot pursuit for a bricks and mortar that we could, in some way, help shape or control because that’s important. We need it,” said Becerra. “Although, PALS and PAWS and everybody else that is out there that’s doing — guys, no argument from me — a magnificent job in our community, no one of you can do what we need as a county. None of you, individually, can hold the whole bag.”
The county judge continued, stating that it’s important that ,as things continue to unfold, everyone works together and “don't let ourselves get divided because we all have the same shared passion and the more that we remind ourselves of … the sun shines for everyone. Yes, it does. And what I mean when I say that is you should all get an opportunity to do what is right in the best setting that you have available to you.”
“The reality is, we have an element on the court that is more focused on cutting services and appeasing political allies rather than putting the needs of our community and our pets first. When the Hays County Pet Resource, Education and Research Center began meaningful progress, a calculated disinformation campaign was launched to systematically dismantle our efforts,” Becerra said. “Misleading narratives were pushed, the work being done was undermined and ultimately a decision was made that puts politics ahead of real solutions. The only ones suffering from this decision are the animals and residents of Hays County.”
Additionally, Becerra said that Hays County failed the Hays PRC’s success in multiple ways by not supporting veterinary services, not funding pet food distributions, not providing microchip scanners and failing to follow through on established programs.
The contract between APA! and Hays County is set to conclude in 30 days following the March 25 meeting. To listen to the court’s full discussion and public comment period, visit the commissioners court page on the county's website.
Informational links can be found below.
- Hays County: www.hayscountytx.gov
- Austin Pets Alive!: www.austinpetsalive.org
- Hays PRC: www.hayscountytx.gov/pet-resource
