Don Bland, Chief Animal Services Officer at Austin Animal Center, has time and again shown his lack of empathy towards the animals in the shelter he runs by ignoring cruel living conditions at the No-Kill city animal shelter in Austin, TX.

Not only has Don Bland ignored the space crisis the shelter is facing, but he has also refused to put in any effort to positively change the living conditions of the suffering animals that reside in his shelter. Don Bland has been neglecting the animals in Austin Animal Center since day one, and has outright lied (to the media) about his participation in improving their welfare.

The Austin Animal Center is drowning in a space crisis, currently having over 300 animals on-site. Due to this space crisis, 33 of those animals have been placed in kennels on the shelters truck port or in the hallways by vet exam rooms. The conditions of the truck port at the shelter are far less than ideal for animals who must be in the kennels for several hours until a regular (air conditioned and heated) kennel open up, and outright cruel for animals to live in indefinitely. It would be a different story if this was their only option- but it isn't. Within the shelter lobby is a room referred to as the "multipurpose room." This is where the overflow of animals should be kept; its air conditioned/heated, easier to gain access to for employees, volunteers, and adopters. Don Bland has refused to house the animals in the multipurpose room. Instead, Don Bland is forcing these helpless animals to suffer in 100+ degree weather with nothing but fans to cool them down. (Update as of 5/23: the animals have been moved into a location inside of the shelter due to incoming thunderstorms. This change still does not justify Don Blands negligence.) 

The animals in the pop-up kennels have it the worst, some of them not even being able to stand up because the kennels are too small for them. Most of these overflow dogs, not to mention regularly kenneled animals, are not being walked everyday due to being understaffed and not having enough volunteers. This has been a struggle for the Austin Animal Center since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Austin Animal Center Employees and volunteers have worked endless hours to get as many dogs out as possible without over exhausting themselves, but over time that is the ultimate and unfortunate reality. Where is Don Bland? He is lying to the media about walking animals or he is taking his daily 3:30pm trip to the gym. Morale of the shelter, employees and volunteers alike, has been at an all time low. To make matters worse, Don Bland continues to push for the shelter to euthanize for space, whether the animal has behavior issues that are manageable and trainable, or not.

These animals do not have a voice that Don Bland and Spencer Cronk (City Manager) can hear, but we as a community do. We can force them to hear us beg for a change, that change being for Don Bland to resign.

Don Blands gross neglect for these animals is animal cruelty. Don Blands lack of empathy for his employees is callous. The Austin Animal Center has been in dire need of a positive change for years, and the common denominator of those in charge at the shelter has been Don Bland. Please help these animals have a voice before it is too late for them.