As the seventh-largest city in the United States, we need to be aware of the fact that three years ago, we had the highest euthanasia rate per capita in the country. We have made progress, but not enough. How do we want to be seen by the rest of the country?

Heroic efforts have been made internally, but now it is time to realize accomplishing this goal will require the entire community. Along with the exponential growth that our area continues to experience, comes increased demands on our municipal budgets and resources. And with tens of thousands of homeless pets coming into shelters each year, a community-wide effort is needed.

No. Combined with the fact sheltering is not a long-term solution for homeless animals, the number of homeless pets continues to grow with each passing day. Sheltering is inherently stressful on the animals and disease control is a problem. If we assume only 25 square feet per abandoned dog or cat, it would require one million square feet – per year – to house these animals, amounting to more space than the footprint of the Alamodome.

• Since launching promotional efforts and publicizing monthly adoption events, we have seen a noticeable increase in shelter pet adoptions.
• New Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) policies for cats, along with low-cost spay/neuter programs, are major factors in reducing intakes of animals into the shelter.
• Dynamic corporate partnerships with Spurs Sports & Entertainment, SeaWorld San Antonio, Rackspace Managed Hosting, KLRN Public Television and WellMed Medical Group are increasing No Kill awareness citywide.
• Superintendents from six key school districts have committed to incorporating responsible pet ownership into their K-12 curriculum, combined with service learning projects. The potential outreach is to 35,000 families.

San Antonio taking a stand as a compassionate, No Kill community, makes us more attractive for businesses looking to relocate here and for families and professionals who want to relocate here to live and work. This also creates opportunities for animal service businesses and retail pet products. In areas that have successfully reached this goal, such as San Francisco and the greater Tompkins County region of New York, they significantly reduced the annual expenditures for their animal services. In fact, studies show that for every $1 spent on providing low-cost spay and neuter services, $10 is saved from an animal services budget.

• Make a financial contribution to OwnUp SA.
• Involve employees and vendors in awareness events.
• Publicize the OwnUp SA message at all facilities.
• Conduct on-site adoption events.
• Include OwnUp participation in employee health and wellness fairs.
• Educate employees about being responsible pet owners.

Projected costs of $8.8 million will include:

• Awareness campaign
• Spay/neuter expansion
• Rescue and adoption expansion
• Medical/rehabilitation
• Education campaign
• Animal welfare capacity building
• Owner retention programs
• Capital expenditures

The San Antonio Area Foundation has created the OwnUp SA Fund (the “Fund”) exclusively to help achieve the City of San Antonio’s Animal Care Strategic Plan. Distributions from the Fund shall be made as grants to eligible organizations that will fund expenses of the grantee organization that are directly or indirectly attributable to creating and maintaining a companion animal No Kill community. Decisions on distributions will be the responsibility of the Area Foundation Board of Directors, based on recommendations made by a grant-making sub-committee of the OwnUp SA Consortium of Partners.