Austin Animal Center

"We adopted Bailey three weeks ago, and she’s been such a joy. She’s playful, curious, and full of energy—always ready to explore, play with her toys, and make friends with other dogs. Bailey is the sweetest dog with a touch of sass, and we absolutely adore her."

Exceptional staff and volunteers. Submit your info online with preferred dogs to streamline the process. They ensure a perfect match with ongoing post-adoption support. Our first visit didn’t result in a match, but we returned and met Reyna! Trust your instincts with animals. If adoption isn’t right, volunteer or donate supplies to support the center. Always full, it’s a great place to find your new best friend.

Me and my partner recently went to Austin Animal Center looking for another dog to keep our current dog company. The staff was amazing and we came in close to closing time but we were still able to meet the dog we were interested in! Next day we brought our dog to meet him, which went amazing, and that same day he went home with us! After walking through the facility and getting a list of dogs we were interested in, the staff gave us all the info on each pet to help us figure out who would be best with our dog at home. So happy we found Ranger Rick, who is now renamed Asteroid ☄️ Thank you Austin Animal Center for making sure these pets go to a loving, fit home!

We went in Sunday, after we had been to 5 or 6 other shelters in the area. The place was so well maintained and staff was so friendly and knowledgeable. The nice lady in the cat Sanctuary (I know her name starts with an A) suggested Siren and she is the most playful friendly cat. She does so great with our yorkie poo(who is a bit of a jerk sometimes). Thank you! To the whole animal shelter team. They will be getting all our future animal donations.

The shelter hid medical information. Our puppy showed clear signs within hours of nerve damage. She had no control of her bowels or tail which were stated at the shelter that she was scared and is currently struggling with diarrhea. Our vet stated the nerve damage should have been caught on intake or even regular interaction. AAC who had her for a month shared no information on the condition. Now we are stuck with the medical costs and likely will have to rehome our sweet girl as we cannot continue with expenses and cleanup. Had this been told to us we could have rescued a different dog but we will never adopt from here again.

SPEAK. TO. THE. RIGHT. ADOPTION. COUNSELOR at the front desk. Please don’t take this P.S.A lightly. It will 100% absolutely make your adoption experience either AMAZING or the most STRESSFUL experience ever that ends in heartbreak. If you feel a single HINT of the counselor you’re speaking to be un empathetic, off putting, fake or just overall weird vibes in the slightest. GET. A. SECOND. OPINION from a different counselor until you speak to the right one. I’ve learned this the hard way and it ended with just absolutely crushing me and my girlfriends heart. I was furious and my girlfriend cried about 4 times. Some counselors are much more better suited and educated about their policies than others and if you try to argue about some uncertainties, certain individuals will seem to lie to cover their mistakes, which I had a feeling but what I experienced today just confirmed they were cover ups. Anyway, just be aware there’s a possibility you may get heavily misinformed by counselor or two. There seems to be consistency issues here among the information that’s being told and I should’ve just asked for a supervisor or lead from the beginning. I lost a kitty I’ve had my eye on since day 1 to a random couple that walked in one morning that was allowed to continue with the adoption process, even though I was told DAYS PRIOR I’m not allowed to adopt her and that NO ONE ELSE IS due to her being underweight. That is what I was told. She was adopted at the same exact weight few days later by another counselor. It was part of the "policy" that seemed to be very strictly in place and my request to adopt was immediately shot down. So I complied and waited and visited, waited and visited again to check on the kitty that I wanted so badly to hit the required weight for me to adopt. I asked to adopt again the next day and possibly check the weight, she weighed in less than her usual weight and I was told I should come back a couple of days later by that same counselor. Only for me to come EXACTLY 24 hours later and get told by another counselor she had a couple come in to adopt that kitty 15 minutes prior. I was told through those days NO ONE ELSE can adopt her, she CANNOT be adopted while underweight, come back another time. I pleaded to be on some kind of notification list that way I can come grab her the moment she is available. The counselor just told me no and to come back again as if it was so easy to do. At the end of the day, the couple that adopted the kitty had an easy process with no questions asked, even though they were under the SAME EXACT conditions as me. The only difference is they talked to a different counselor. This all happened within a 4 day time frame where I’ve come into the shelter everyday CONSECUTIVELY. I live far north so it isn’t an easy quick drive. Today I spoke to Ginger at the front desk and she was wonderful, empathetic and seemed to really care what I was speaking of. She offered me great understanding and made me realize I was never offered an alternative method of adoption which would’ve allowed me to adopt the kitty I wanted the first day that I wanted her which would’ve avoided ALL of this. What’s done is done but I had a terrible experience because of the person I talked to. I hope kitty 10777 has found a home with amazing owners. This man also had the audacity to say to me the volunteers sometimes don’t know what they’re talking about when they were at the front telling him I should be able to adopt the very first day.

Adopted my babies same day I walked into this facility! Thanks to all the kind and hard working animal loving staff members for making this happen for us. I will forever be grateful.