Austin Animal Center Reviews

Its probably not really their fault. Every service provider in Austin is overwhelmed with horses of California billionaire refugees who feel they are entitled to bring their worst behavior and the worst of California to Texas and kill Austin as fast as they can. So it's impossible now to reach any City or county operation. All calls cycle to 311 where harried receptionists "take a message" for people to call you but they never have time. My dog wound up at the shelter after a horrible death that left me severely traumatized and able to get information only by driving to the shelter four times. But i would give 10 stars if i could to Mr Devere, who was sensitive and cared and went out of his way to help me in every way he could. I wish we could people like him who such a big

If you only have a few interactions with Austin Animal Center, chances are you'll have a good experience. Many of the staff who care for the animals and interact with the public are devoted, caring people. But the staff, volunteers, and the taxpayers deserve better leadership. AAC's outcomes are getting worse in many categories. At the time of this review, intake is down, but adoptions, fosters, returns to owner, and transfers to rescue are down even more in the last six months from the previous year. Even though dogs sometimes stay for months, quality of life and dogs' need for walks and exercise have been an issue for years and the problem remains. Volunteers who raise concerns are often ignored or censored, and some of those who criticize, like me, have been banned from the volunteer program. Volunteers and staff alike privately express a fear of speaking up about problems and advocating for improvements. Austin's City Council, City Manager's Office, and funders like Maddie's Fund are so far willing to turn a blind eye to questionable and bad practices and the toxic environment at AAC. Austin Animal Center needs new, compassionate and competent leadership and true oversight, transparency and accountability.

Took cat in to be fixed today. Had him ready to go an hour and a half early. Hes fixed, but still a little "drunk". Hopefully he will heal up nicely. Lots of people were there, so I felt pretty good about the quality of service. The staff was great! Very nice, and professional too. Overall, a good experience. If I need anything else for Sebastian, the rescue cat, that really rescued me, I will take him back to Emancipet. Great job Emancipet... 10 rating...G-Man approved!

This place it's not just a shelter they helped us receive offer newest member of our family, and we are all so happy.

Got our new pup hm tonight. So excited for our new family member!

Had to surrender an animal and they were not interested in helping me at all

It was hard giving my deceased dog to them, but they we're very nice.

This is a perfect location iffind a stray dog and need to find somewhere to turn it in for adoption if this is your dog and you are the owner of the dog be aware that if you take the dog there you are forced to sign they surrender application and they will schedule an appointment for you to come back later and turn the dog in.

Fantastic! Jasmine and the entire staff go out of their way to help reunite people and their pets. And find cats and pups new homes when no one comes forward to claim them :)

Despite being surrounded by dozens of satellite towns and being a gov't funded project, they ONLY take in animals found in Austin or Travis counties. I'm ~20 miles outside county limits, so the 4 stray KITTENS I've found pretty much get to starve and die.
Good show folks.

Great place, knowledgeable staff and volunteers. Take home your new best friend!

No kill shelter. They made it easy to drop off and locate the owners of a dog we found.

They used to be great. However, during covid and under the leadership of Don Bland, they seem to care less and less about the animals and customers. Don bland has outright said that animals are inventory ... pretty sure he only cares about moving them and keeping under budget. The Pet Resource center used to be helpful but now doesn t give a flying F about you or the animal. Unfortunately we need them to help with the city s animal welfare so not sure how to address except for a bad review in hoping they will be better. Please be better... for the animals sake.

Great volunteers, super clean and plenty of ADORABLE dogs & cats! When the dogs look in ur eyes, hungry for affection, it hurts my . The people who work & volunteer here care. The behavior problem dogs get worked with, they all get walked regularly and proper vet care too! Donate what u can--pet food, ur time, or money. They are very grateful for whatever u are able to do. This matters. Love you guys and THANK YOU!

Large facility with lots of animals for adoption. The staff is obviously very caring.

The experience I had there was...intense. I picked up two dogs on the highway. Called 311. The next day, they called me and said to drop off here because they couldn t come out. I went there and there was no record that that was the case. the lady there said that the dispatcher told me to set up an appointment, not drop them off..which wasn t the case. She definitely told me to drop them off and be quick about it and get there before 6 because they were short staffed.. However, the lady at the animal center then went from 0 to 100 and said, so you re saying she s lying? So she had malicious intent? (Yes...she used the word malicious)....then started saying they were going to reprimand her!! I was so horrified. Super horrible. Mistakes happen! Yes, it s frustrating to be told one thing but honestly I was just frustrated...that s it. I didn t think anyone was malicious or wanted anyone reprimanded! And I made that totally clear, yet she went on and on: no, she WILL be reprimanded ...anyways, They took the dogs, which is great, but the experience was saddening.

This is a really nice no-kill animal shelter. Austin is lucky to have such good help rehoming the deserving animals

The animals stole my heart, although some employees are friendly, there is no one who attends and they have you waiting for up to 2 and a half hours .....

Adopted my dog Austin from here! You can follow him at #meetaustinangulo

Found this puppy and the Center returned her to her owners, Sad but fair.

Came to their adoption weekend and walked out with the perfect addition to our family. They were very friendly and had really great COVID protocols in place. The staff were friendly and the animals are well taken care of. The best moment was seeing a shelter favorite get adopted and there wasn t a dry eye in the area. They really care about what they do.

This place is very professional and does all the required things that you would think an animal shelter would do! I would suggest signing in to speak to an adoption counselor or foster helper right when you arrive because if it s busy it takes about an hour to get to the front of the line. I have adopted two dogs from here both females they spayed at them and took good care of them and the adoption process was very easy. Thank you Austin Animal Center!

This is a fantastic facility. Recent policy changes made it more difficult to visit the dogs in their rooms, but the reasoning behind the change was for the dog's saftey. Disappointing for someone who loved to spend time with every dog when I'd visit, but understandable.

Great customer service and super volunteers! Love fostering for them. Highly recommend visiting during the week days as the weekends are more hectic.

Brought a friend we met here to pick his doggie..was shocked to find out there was no fine or cost for this service. Nor was his animal in danger of being put to sleep. Unlike San Antonio for sure.

One of the best animal shelters I have ever been to. The staff is friendly and the animals look to be well taken care of. I love how each animal has their own card on their door describing them and if they have a green dot you can actually take the dog out and play with them. If this shelter wasn't so far away from me I would definitely be a volunteer here.

sad when people have to give up their animals but it is a no kill shelter.

Bring a stay for is like going to jail because of being unloved and yet the facility does an awesome job of trying to make that jail as accommodating and easy as possible for these little future pets.

Come adopt a pet or volunteer to waln dogs. I wanted to take them all home. But came home with this lovable guy. Shelter Pets Snuggle better!

I hate to leave a bad review for any entity involved in adopting a shelter dog, but their system to even get in line to meet with the dogs left us in line for over 2 hours with only 3 others waiting. For being a shelter, they make it extremely difficult to adopt, and likely lose potential adopters to their antiquated system. Needs overhaul.

From what I can see they take really good care of the animals.

Really solid care conditions for their animals, really difficult to contact via phone or email.

Saved my dogs life with 24 hour care after emergency abdominal surgey!

We got our lost duck back from them as someone found our duck and gave it to them and they post photos of animals found. Thanks for such a great service. However, they did tell us that they waived the $150 impound charge as that was our first. I think $150 is a bit too much....specially when it comes to ducks and chickens.

There are so many homeless cats and dogs. PLEASE ADOPT!!!

Always a sad place to visit and I always want to adopt another pet. The whole place is large and somewhat confusing but the staff was nice last time I went and were helpful telling me where to go. They have chip readers if you have found an animal and want to return it, they also have lead-leashes if you need one. I was told they have low-cost vaccinations and I will probably tale the stray I found there to be vaccinated.

No help neighbor passed away no family and they won't take the dog

After a not so good visit at a different pet adoption center, my wife and I came here to try to find the newest addition to our little family. Most of the dogs seemed in very good spirits, all of them healthy, but a lot of them dirty.
First I want to say that I like this place and when it comes time that we want to add another pup to the family this will be the place we come hands down.
The reason I am leaving 3 stars is because the poor puppy we ended up adopting had made a mess in her kennel and gotten poop all over herself but was not bathed before her surgery to be fixed. When I come to pick her up I'm told that because of the healing process I can't give her a real bath for a week. So I had to get puppy wipes and clean her off as best I could with those.
I understand there are a lot of potential pets there and there isn't time to bathe them all, but I think there should be exceptions for pups that have literal poop all over them.

I've adopted a couple dogs from here. They turned out to be really good dogs. Staff helped out with every question I had about my new dogs. Would strongly recommend people to go adopt a new pet.

The people here are amazing. When I when to adopt my fur baby it was an very pleasant experience. Thank you

I'm a foster for this shelter... Help keep Austin no kill shelters... Fostering is wonderful, and you get new pets all the time :)

I have been a volunteer at this shelter and taken care of 4 cats and once taken care of a black lab/collie mixed adorable dog who showed agression at certain points. When we took him in for a checkup at the facility, they said he would need to be put down for his agressive behaviors if not trained. they told us to go in to a special facility which trained dogs which was quite expensive but covered by the shelter. They decided that they would put him down. (So much for a non-kill shelter) We were in no shape to take a second dog on, but i swear to leave that dog to be murdered is just unimaginable to me. They wouldn't even keep the training session going on for him anymore to have his behaviors put in check. We adopted him and my respect for this shelter is gone. I understand they get a lot of animals, but it isn't right to give up on a dog like that.

Beautiful, no kill shelter with lovely grounds and facilities

They have a pretty nice setup, can just call a number to get put in a queue, rather than waiting in line. Got the newest addition to my pack from there, and aside from the mandated 72 hour stray hold before I could finalize adoption and pick her up, the process was rather smooth.... Once I found the right dog for me and my family.

AMAZING STAFF!!! This is by far the best municipal shelter in the country!!!
My dog went missing for 10 days and they did everything they could to help me find him. They offered resources and tips on locating a lost pet and sure enough I found him!!!
I have also adopted our family cat from them and they were amazing in helping me find the right one for my family :)

One of the top no kill shelters in the nation, the staff are amazing and friendly, and the volunteers we're constantly with the dogs and cats to keep them happy healthy and to train and encouraged good behavior

My husband and I have adopted to chihuahuas from Levander Loop Animal Center and we are so happy with them they are like our children... they have been a blessing to us. We thank the staff and Austin Animal Center for being such a pleasant and loving place for all animals God Bless the staff for being awesome. They do a great job.

This place has been a huge help with getting the feral cat population under control. All kittens were adopted and we got the population down to 5 spayed and neutered adults. They have come a long way from when I first moved in. They sleep on my porch now and will even play with me some.

We adopted a dog we still don t know the breed but he s PERFECT!!!!

The dogs and cats were very clean and fluffy. All the pets were very easy to locate and approach. You can walk the dogs if you re older than 18 too which was nice. The cats were so cute and very all friendly.

Very nice facility with plenty of space to meet and get to know your next pet. Helpful, friendly staff who want nothing more than to pair you with the perfect pup ( or cat or bunny or etc...)

I would like to express my deepest heartfelt gratitude adopting Sophia has been a life changing experience! For both of us! She has made great strides and is living her best life! Together forever!

It's hard to walk around and see the animals when the doors are locked at 12:00pm

Everybody in Austin talks about pets alive, but you need to give the animal center a chance. Its modern and clean and doesn't make you feel guilty about being there. They have a convenient booking system so you can get in line to see pets without even being there! All shelters and animal organizations need support so get out there and adopt or volunteer!

Adopt those beautiful dogs they re all looking for a loving home and they deserve it. Go out and volunteer as well. This little fella was so adorable too bad he was already being adopted.

From parking lot to intrance is a very long walk. Vet would not check out my dog with out my giving up my dog

My dog was found after being stolen and he shows up at the animal shelter again and again And I cannot claim Him? The Thief is now allowed to take and own the Dog?

There is an awesome selection of cats and dogs to choose from. I've gotten all of my cats from here. The staff is really nice and the building smells clean concidering.

I've gotten 2 pets from AAC, and taken a few strays, when I'm not able to keep them more than a night. Thankfully many have found their owners. Those that haven't... we'll, I know that AAC staff will look after them as best as possible!

The rudest and the most disrespectful lady in the animal care center!

Customer service reps are not very helpful. I lost my rabbit and gave them a poster and asked if anyone had brought her in. The lady referred me to the rabbit room where there were no rabbits at all. A simple no would have sufficed instead of making me feel worse about the whole situation.

beautiful facility and great procedure and handling of animals up to adoption

We got our dog here on one of their free events. They are doing amazing things

I got my amazing dog here and I loved the experience of finding him here. The shelter is clean, well organized, and easy to navigate. There's a great selection of pets that's always changing every day

This is a great place to look for a new pet. The facilities are quite vast and well kept. We ve been looking for a dog for some time now and found several here that we were interested in adopting. You can take a dog for a walk to get to know it or hang with the cats.

This place is unbelievably awesome. There were some people that kicked to very sweet dogs out of a car and I was desperately searching for place to take them to find good homes.

None of the shelters in my area would help so I called these guys and they helped the same day! Absolutely wonderful staff and compassionate people work here. Thank you Austin animal center!!! Thanks to you, these dogs have a real chance at having a forever home.

Seeing all the dogs was wonderful. The staff has done a fantastic job rehabilitating them. Having to wait for customer service wait on you is terrible. My friends signed up to inquire about a dog and most possibly adopt. We were told the wait would be ten minutes. Thirty minutes later the message from AAC still said ten minutes. We left without a dog.

The people working here are fantastic and really care about the animals. It can feel a bit like they are too busy for you, but simply talking to anyone yields friendly and helpful conversation. The animals are as well taken care of and happy as possible, and volunteers work hard to keep them this way. While the shelter can get too many animals at times, their specials and promotions are forward attempts to find animals loving homes as quickly as possible. If ever in search of a loving pet, Austin Animal Center is the place to go to find one.

I volunteer there they are nice and easy peopl lots of Animas

I am so grateful for the animal center, because our cat had just died two weeks before, and we wanted to rescue a couple of cats. We didn t intend on rescuing a three-year-old cat but she was so amazing we could not not rescue her! And then the kitten just started doing backflips when we walked into the room and reaching out of the cage and talking to my husband, and that was it - he had claimed us! The little cat is now called Ivan the terrible , although he s really not terrible he s really curious! But its a Norwegian name, and the female we have named lady Astrid because she is a Norwegian Forest cat! but who knows what we really call her! Sometimes queen Latifah is she lays around and walks around like she s a queen. I hope this helps you guys! I m a huge fan of the animal Center and Wood courage anybody Who is serious about having an animal to go through them.

My son's dog had gotten out of his yard and was picked up by animal control. I went to spring Ben from doggie jail for my son since he had to work. The employees were very kind and helpful. Since Ben was a first timer to their facilities, they only charged us 15.00 and they gave him a micro chip at no charge. They even gave us his doggie picture that was on his cage the lady said to remind Ben what happens when he gets out of the yard. Lol They have a good sense of humor too. They gave me information on the free pet clinic's in case he needed any shots or nudering. From when I arrived to when I left was less than 30 minutes. So to recap the employees of Austin Animal Services have a good sense of humor, they are knowledgeable and efficient. Fence repairs were made to my son's yard and even though my experience was a good one I hope to not have to return.

Very professional! Pretty quick too! Highly recommended! Thanks!

2 new bonded baby kittens ....smooth adoption..great screening process..call and ow up twice already

We love animals and its a great place to vheck out!

I was very impressed with the facilities: layout, cleanliness, and selection of animals. I highly recommend going here for your pet adoption needs!

No body care about the animals, look like everyone just work for make the money.

Great place for a puppy dog to get rescued and find a happy home. What more could anyone ask?