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    Austin Pets Alive!

    3.3 (315 reviews)
    Open 12:00 pm - 6:00 PM

    Services - Austin Pets Alive!

    Animal shelters

    Pet adoption

    Austin Pets Alive! Photos

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    Reviews With Photos

    Moose-tache , Austin's most dapper cat
    Catherine M.

    We adopted our kitty, Moose-tache, from APA. The experience was amazing from start to finish. Their website is easy to use to find your next fur baby. They are a no-kill shelter. Consider supporting them through a donation, shopping at the APA thrift shop or donating the neuter/spay cost back to the shelter.

    This charlie A Chihuahua  female

    I got a pure bred and I didn't get scam. My money was well spent, I got a female Chihuahua,spayed ,chip,and her shots,housebroken,leash train,well manner

    Ending my volunteer shift!
    Karen R.

    The staff at Austin Pets Alive are unbelievable. The attention and care for all the fur babies cannot be matched. I started volunteering here a couple months ago and it was the best decision I made. If you have time, please come volunteer. It's needed!

    Dawn H.

    I love everything about APA! They are a "no kill" facility and do everything they can to assist our community, for both humans and our other than companions. Full disclosure, I have never adopted from APA. I sadly put my almost 17 year old, 55lb lil big guy to sleep just over three weeks ago (I had a team come to my home and it was very tranquil). My buddy's mind was still there and he had more love to give. His poor body just gave out and I promised him I would never let him suffer. Elvis was spoiled - not rotten - and he had A LOT of belongings. A bed in every room in my house (except the bathrooms and kitchen), his own toy box filled to the rim, a dresser with all of his clothes and blankets, special treats and so much more. When thinking of a place to donate - Elvis would've definitely wanted to share with others - Austin Pets Alive was my first choice. I have been a big supporter since moving to Austin over eight years ago, attending charity efforts, contributing to drives, etc. because I admire all of their efforts to heel and not kill animals. I called APA and inquired about what they would/would not accept and explained my situation to them. Every staff/volunteer I spoke to was so kind and empathetic. I knew I chose the right org to give my beloved's things to. After over two weeks of gradually boxing things up (some will never leave my home), and three full car drop offs later, I received an out of the blue condolence call. A few happy tears helped relief some of the pain, if only a bit. Thank you APA for everything you do. You care and it shows. I don't think I will ever get another furbaby, but if I did I know where I would head. xo

    Our new APA potential adoption dog
    Morgann G.

    Update: we have officially welcomed our new friend to our home. An unexpected bonus- they had a Memorial Day special so he was free!! I'm feeling truly blessed all the way around.

    Beautiful boy
    Meggie W.

    I'm dismayed by the negative reviews, when there are hundreds of people who will tell you what an incredible organization this is but it is usually an occasional negative experience that ends up being voiced here versus the many positive experiences. No rescue is ever going to be completely idyllic, because it takes a lot out of a person to devote themselves to animal rescue & keep things organized when all rescue groups experience limitations and unpredictability at some point. It's an emotionally taxing & exhausting line of work so it is important not to take things too personally. Ultimately, everyone wants to see rescued animals saved and into loving homes - often that means setting ones feelings aside. With that said, I want to emphasize what a truly amazing rescue organization APA has been for me and many lone rescuers I know. I live in Dallas and when I had trouble finding a home for cats, APA came to my rescue and offered to help me. I especially want to highlight the lovely coordinator woman in cat intake! She is a truly sweet and caring individual. She is professional, organized and incredible knowledgeable. She offered me guidance and support that I couldn't find locally. I truly appreciate everything APA does and cannot understand how anyone would bash them. Thank you to all the staff & volunteers who work so hard to keep things running. You deserve some praise!

    Sadie S.

    We were fostering two kittens from APA and during a late night/early morning emergency involving potential toxin exposure, we called the emergency line they give you at 10 p.m. We informed the person on-call about what happened and they did not seem to care or acknowledge any urgency even though we told them that the ASPCA toxicity hotline told us it was urgent to go to an emergency vet right away. Because of this we acted out of an abundance of caution and took the foster and the other kitten who we recently adopted to an emergency vet. We tried to communicate with APA through this emergency line for hours, each time we spoke to somebody they seemed indifferent and burdened by the wellbeing of the kittens. We had to explain what happened multiple times and were repeatedly told that it "wasn't an emergency and we could wait until the morning for a check up" even though the ASPCA told us the kitten could die. We went to the emergency vet with both kittens and had them checked in and were informing APA the entire time and it wasn't until 1 AM that we were informed we would not be reimbursed for medical services rendered by the emergency vet. They never disclose this whenever you are trying to foster. They did not offer until 2:30 AM the option to have the "on-call vet" meet us at the town lake location. They told us it would be 30 minutes to an hour until they could see the foster kitten. After hours of stress and worry and endless communication with the shelter, we finally got to APA and the people who met us there were upset, irritated, and did not know the details of what was going on despite us being in communication with them for the past several hours. We left the foster kitten there overnight by himself and in the morning we called to check on him and they told us, "I don't know what you want me to say. He's the same as he has been. You can pick him up after six". When we did pick him up, he was terrified, shaking, and covered in matted urine, feces, and litter. He had a bruise on his left leg presumably from the IV. It did not look like it had been cleaned and it was not bandaged. The kittens ended up being OK, but it was a horrible experience and we are incredibly grateful that he is safe and adopted. I sincerely hope that APA recognizes their shortcomings and failures so that they can work towards the goals they initially set out to achieve.

    James B.

    My wife and I had a 4-5 month old puppy who's name was Aloha, She tested positive for Parvo at this facility and the veterinarians and staff were so loving to us that they gave us $150 worth of medications for free to nurse her back to health. Unfortunately on the drive home and on the way upstairs to our apartment Aloha passed away from her Parvo Virus infection before we could administer the first round of meds and I.V. We thank this facility and it's staff for everything they did for her even though we lacked the funds to pay for treatment. God surely lives in this place.

    Rosa & Leia
    Suzi O.

    Great, great experience!! We've never had a cat b4 (we're dog ppl) and prob asked a millllion questions! But they were very patient w/ my adult sons an I and we honestly couldn't have asked for a better experience. We ended up adopting Leia-a 2 month old shorthair domestic kitten that had ringworm. Actually, listen to them about treatment bc it really is contagious-loll But this little Princess is TOTALLY worth it!!!

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    4 months ago

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    Hello Susan! We are happy that you found you companion from us!

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    2 years ago

    A great place to get your furrever friend. These volunteers work hard to get these worthy animals placed in the best homes possible.

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    Sarah C.

    Hey Patricia, thank you for your kind words and 5 stars!

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    Page 1 of 8

    Ask the Community - Austin Pets Alive!

    Do they accept unopened bag of dog food? I'm switching my dog to another brand and I have a 50 lb bag of Valu-Pak 28-20.

    Yes! You can drop off donations any day of the week in front of our clinic at 1156 W Cesar Chavez St.

    How long does it take to get your spay/neuter deposit back?

    Hi Kelby! It usually takes about a week maximum after the surgery to receive your spay/neuter deposit back.

    Is all money raised go directly to this organization?

    According to Charity Navigator 80% of their revenue (donations, grants etc.) goes to the program. Looks like about 12% for fundraising and maybe 8% or less for administrative costs. It's rated 3 out of 4 stars. That's the breakdown. I use Charity… 

    Don’t See Your Question? Ask Away!

    Review Highlights - Austin Pets Alive!

    My boyfriend and I stopped by ABGB to grab some beer and pizza and Austin Pets Alive happened to be having an adoption event...

    Mentioned in 55 reviews

    Read more highlights

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    I just recently adopted my new dog through GRR and it was an incredible experience start to finish…read more Yes, it's thorough and yes it takes time, but I definitely feel like that is by design and ultimately matched me with a pretty incredible pup - you shouldn't be in a hurry to find your next family member! The care and passion for each dog is apparent, and I had a whole support team throughout the process to ensure I had all the information and resources I needed to bring my Cooper home.

    short version: most of the people in the org are nice but it all depends on who you get as your…read more"matchmaker". if you get Jennie Lou then I wouldn't waste your time and just start looking for another place to get your golden. don't waste almost a year like we did. just be careful on facebook a lot of the group posts are scams. i had high hopes for GRR, i've been following them for a couple years and they were the first people i reached out to about donating stuff when i lost my last golden of 15 years. After going through the intense interview process we were assigned a matchmaker. I thought this process would be exciting but it was not. JL didn't have the best communication, not hearing from her 1+ months at a time and even getting us confused with other couples. She was usually abrasive and condescending over the phone. I felt like I had to keep reminding her that we've had goldens before. We tried to suggest dogs that popped up on the website or facebook page and were reprimanded for doing so. We said that a main requirement was making sure the new dog got along with our current one but that never seemed like a concern to them. JL would call us about a dog that just came in that they didn't know anything about and give us a couple to hours to decide and we'd have to go pick them up in 2 days from the Vet right after being spayed. I felt like they just wanted to throw something at the wall and see what sticks. She kept telling us to trust the process (over and over again) so we did with one of these last minute dogs and it did not work out. In fact she wound up having giardia and gave it to our older dog. Then we got gaslighted for saying it was a bad match and I once again had to remind her that we've had young goldens before. This is when I started asking around and it seemed like everyone I talked to that had a positive experience adopting from GRR had a different matchmaker than us. Before giving up i sent an email to the GRR President and VP pleading to try one more time with a different matchmaker and instead of responding they forwarded it to ours and she proceeded to chew me out over the phone like i was a child. I was never mean or ugly or anything in that email. if there was room i'd paste the email in here. As I'm writing this it's been 3 months since we've heard from JL. No check in or anything. In that 3 months we've found another golden rescue (based in dallas), got approved and already have had the new dog a couple months now. We've also met several other people that used to get their dogs from GRR that are working with this new rescue now. They were assigned JL as well and just gave up and left like we had to. Hopefully you'll have better luck than we did with GRR.

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    Lil Paws Maltese Rescue is responsible for bringing joy into our home. We recently adopted an…read moreadorable little maltipoo. She came to us housebroken and full of love. I contribute that to the amazing and compassionate volunteers who run this rescue. Their puppies are raised in the homes of these caring individuals so they have been trained and socialized with love and care. If you are interested in adopting a dog needing a forever home, Lil Paws Maltese Rescue is where you need to go. They have meet and greets every month to find good matches for their puppies. We are so in love with our new fur baby.

    I'm sharing this as a genuine concern for animal welfare and transparency…read more I've noticed this individual adopting animals from local shelters while simultaneously requesting donations and then selling the animals at retail-level prices. That raises serious ethical questions. Animal shelters exist to place pets into safe, permanent homes--not to supply inventory for resale. If money is being exchanged beyond standard adoption fees, the public deserves clarity on where funds are going and whether shelters are aware. Donations should support care, vetting, and rescue efforts--not personal profit. If this is a legitimate rescue operation, transparency, nonprofit status, and itemized use of funds should be clearly provided. Otherwise, this feels misleading to donors and unfair to families who adopt in good faith. I hope proper oversight is in place to protect the animals and the community.Donations solicited under the appearance of animal rescue while animals are sold at retail prices.

    Austin Pets Alive! - animalshelters - Updated August 2026

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