Pflugerville Council Responds To Animal Shelter Closure Rumors

PFLUGERVILLE, TX -- It was a standing-room only city council meeting on Tuesday as residents descended upon City Hall to learn of the fate of the municipal animal shelter.

Mayor Jeff Coleman last week added discussion on the future of the animal shelter as part of the official agenda. He did so to dispel rumors that the facility was going to shut down after a plan to partner with the county for the service was disclosed as one of several options.

In partnering with Williamson County officials, the city would, in essence, jointly run the facility. But it wouldn’t be located in Pflugerville but on county property.

That recently disclosed plan set off a firestorm of discussion on social media, prompting the mayor to direct the rumors head on.

“False statements and assumptions on Facebook have resulted in an uproar on social media and emails to the City Council after we began to further discuss options for the shelter at the February 9 Council Meeting,” Coleman said, as reported by KEYE-TV. “Last night’s meeting gave the City Council and our volunteers the opportunity to be heard. Several perspectives were shared, and I hope that going forward the public and our volunteers know we’re listening and that we will always vet various options presented to us.”

Shelter volunteers at the meeting expressed concern about outsourcing the animal shelter facility to another operator.

At the meeting, city officials reiterated the various options other than outsourcing:

• Close the Pflugerville Animal Shelter and use the WilCo facility for all animal needs.
• Keep the Pflugerville Animal Shelter open for stray and reclaim and then after a certain number of days, the animals would go to WilCo.
• Invest $1-$2 million to make improvements to the current Pflugerville facility.

Coleman explained the reason for the outsourcing option in the mix:

“The proposal looked promising to me because after a bond that didn’t pass, this option seemed to fill both the opponents’ and proponents’ needs,” he said, referencing a failed bond referendum of $10 million for shelter expansion last year that was rejected by voters.

“The WilCo shelter is a designated no-kill shelter and a brand new facility which our volunteers want and significantly less expensive than the bond that didn’t pass,” Coleman said. “The distance from Pflugerville could be rectified by keeping the current shelter open to collect animals and strays for reclaim locally before turning the animals to WilCo.”

To view the entire archived meeting online, go to www.pflugervilletx.gov/pftv.