“Who and what is the Christ-Yoder Animal Shelter/Adoption Center?”

“What is the management structure of the shelter and how do volunteers fit in?”

“Is it true that all animals are put down on the third day?”

“Do you work with rescue groups who are offering animals a home?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be a no-kill shelter?”

“At times, there seems to be people who angry with the shelter. Why is that?”

“Why would anyone want to volunteer for service on an animal shelter board?”

“I heard that you will not adopt out certain breeds. Is this true?”

INFO AT A GLANCE

“Who and what is the Christ-Yoder Animal Shelter/Adoption Center?”
Christ-Yoder Animal Shelter/Adoption Center (CYAS/AC) is an open admission animal shelter facility and a non-profit organization. It is owned and operated by the Hill Country Humane Society/SPCA a non-profit, 501 c 3 organization engaged in animal sheltering. CYAS/AC contracts with the Counties of Llano and Burnet and Cities of Burnet, Bertram, Sunrise Beach and Horseshoe Bay to provide sheltering services for homeless dogs and cats and a quarantine facility. The Hill Country Humane Society/SPCA through a Board of Directors governs the operations of the Christ-Yoder Animal Shelter/Adoption Center.

The Christ-Yoder Animal Shelter/Adoption Center does:

• Provide sanctuary and care for homeless animals
• Quarantine animals that have bitten someone
• Promote the adoption of displaced animals
• Network with rescue groups and other shelters
• Raise public awareness about spay-neuter and rabies control
• Support humane education of area youth through the Adopt-A-Classroom and KindNews Program.
• Provide pet cremation services for the public.
• Offers microchipping for the public on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of each month by appointment.

The Christ-Yoder Animal Shelter/Adoption Center does NOT:

• Provide veterinary services
• Pick up animals (this is the responsibility of the Counties and Cities Animal Control Officers and Law Enforcement.
• Board privately-owned animals
• Issue animal or kennel licenses

In short, shelter employees monitor and care for homeless animals (treat minor medical issues, administer basic vaccines, treat for fleas, perform initial worming, conduct temperament testing, engage in basic training of dogs), adhere to high level disease control measures and cleaning/sanitation procedures, and oversee the surrender, reclaim, and adoption of displaced animals.
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“What is the management structure of the shelter and how do volunteers fit in?”
The shelter is managed by an independent Board of volunteer Directors and a small staff of paid employees. The Board handles policy and management decisions. Staff employees handle day-to-day operations using guidelines jointly developed by staff and the board.

From our beginnings, the Board of Directors has run invitations in local newspapers for volunteers, newsletter pleas, distributed flyers, and one-on-one promotion of volunteerism. For the past 7 years the shelter has had a website with volunteer information. Although it may appear that we are a select few who operate the shelter, it is because sufficient numbers of committed volunteers have not been forthcoming. Granted, we do have individuals who have dedicated themselves long-term to helping, but most can not participate on a regular and predictable basis or take on weighty responsibilities. We continue to pursue volunteers that want to make a difference for homeless animals.
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“Is it true that all animals are put down on the third day?”
THIS IS ABSOLUTELY NOT TRUE. The “third day” reference is perhaps derived from "State Recommendation", that animal shelters keep stray animals for a minimum of 72 hours, in order to give owners the opportunity to locate and reclaim their animals.

CYAS/AC goes ABOVE and Beyond that recommendation, by scanning all animals for microchips, contacting Veterinary Clinics if the animal has a Rabies tag, keeping and checking a current log book of lost animals whose owners have called the Shelter and provided information, AND holding animals 5 days in order for owners to locate and reclaim them. After the 5th day animals are available for adoption or transfer to rescue groups. The statement that we “dispose of” animals on the third day is completely false. Each of our animals has an information and bio card on their kennels, indicating the date of their arrival at our facility. Anyone visiting our shelter can see that the majority of the residents have been with us well beyond the 5 day holding period, and some for many months beyond the release date. The only reason we would euthanize an animal soon after arrival would be for humane purposes such as a debilitating injury, extreme aggression or feral behavior that prevents our staff from properly caring for that animal, health issues that cause suffering, owner relinquish of an animal deemed unadoptable for any of the forementioned reasons, or exposure to possibly rabid animal for testing by Texas Department of Health.

Our goal is to provide the best care and quality of life for our animals while working diligently to get them into reponsponsible and loving homes. We DO NOT see ourselves as an agent to control the animal population through euthanasia.
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“Do you work with rescue groups who are offering animals a home?”
ABSOLUTELY. CYAS/AC staff and volunteers, seek out and welcome qualified rescue groups with upstanding reputation in the rescue community and certified credentials. We routinely email photos and bios to breed-specific groups, mixed breed rescues and accredited groups/individuals who train and provide dogs for the physically challenged and law enforcement.
We do not charge a fee to Rescue groups taking our animals into their programs, but do ask for a donation if possible.
We have worked with groups across Texas and surrounding states. Staff and volunteers use their own time and resources to help with transport. These organizations have provided a wonderful service and placed hundreds of our animals into forever homes. Be sure to check out the link “Our Friends in Rescue.“
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“Aren’t you supposed to be a no-kill shelter?”
There are many types of organizations working for the welfare of animals. We are an OPEN-ADMISSION shelter. This is the correct term or classification set out by the Humane Society of the United States. The terms 'no-kill' and 'kill' are used by individuals or groups wanting to inflame the public, elevate themselves as better or put down organizations different from them. The correct terms are as follows: 1) 'Open-admission facility' - one that takes in all animals brought to them and thus makes difficult decisions to euthanize some of them based on specific guidelines and/or shelter overpopulation. 2) 'Limited admission facility/group' - one that takes in animals that are determined adoptable And only when they have room or an open foster home and rarely euthanizes. 3)'Rescue groups' - often will take in only certain breeds or size of animal and again they must be determined as adoptable and they must currently have an opening or foster home available.

Further, establishing a 'limited admission' shelter WAS NEVER CONSIDERED a viable option for the following reasons:

• We wanted to provide the best possible options and care for the homeless, neglected, displaced and abused dogs and cats in Llano and Burnet Counties. To do this we needed to be available to receive animals from Animal Control Officers, Law Enforcement and the public without turning them away. Having a central location to shelter the animals and a diligent adoption program and rescue group liason the Christ-Yoder Animal Shelter/Adoption Center significantly increases the chance of dogs and cats finding loving and responsible homes and owners reclaiming their pets.
  
  
• As a limited admission shelter, we would only be able to accept animals that appear to be readily adoptable.
  
  
• As a limited admission shelter, without means of euthanasia, our facility would be full within two weeks, forcing us to turn away all animals until space became available.
  
  
• Statistics show that these rejected animals when turned away by 'limited-admission' facilities or rescue groups are dumped, killed by inhumane means, or taken to shelters such as ours who aren't limited admission.
  
  
• Many of the animals deemed adoptable at the point of surrender to these limited admission shelters are sometimes discovered to be not so adoptable. Those animals must then spend the remainder of their lives in cramped cages or outside runs, with little or no human interaction. Most of these animals will become “emotionally vacant” within a matter of months.
  
  
• We believe the answer is simple: In order to prevent animal deaths, we must prevent births. To that end, our shelter promotes sterilization of our adopted animals through a Spay/Neuter Program offering reduced cost surgery and vaccines with the cooperation of local Veterinary Clinics. Additionally, the shelter encourages and educates the citizens of Burnet and Llano Counties to spay/neuter their owned pets.
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“At times, there seems to be people who are angry with the shelter. Why is that?”
Unfortunately, this seems to be a common problem among shelters across the nation. Sheltering and care of homeless can be an emotionally charged subject with people having very strong feelings and opinions as to how it should be done. While we feel that there is a place in animal welfare for all types of organizations and facilities not everyone agrees.
Often time people don't agree with our policies or set public hours. Sometimes individuals do not meet our minimum criteria for adopting animals and when asked to make simple changes to ensure the responsible care of an adopted animal, they become angry.
We have also discovered that our typical detractor is unfamiliar with the facts surrounding our organization, has little or no knowledge of shelter operations, is hard pressed to identify our staff or directors by name, and oftentimes, has not even visited our facility to learn the issues. Their complaints are rarely communicated to those who are closely involved with the shelter and best equipped to bring about change. Unfortunately, our staff and board too often hear outrageous tales through the'rumor mill' with no real basis in truth, and the information is usually attributed to some anonymous source that cannot be contacted for clarification. Why do uninformed people spread untruths about animal shelters and seek to harm these philanthropic organizations? We do not have the answer to that question. What we do offer is an open invitation to visit the shelter, meet our staff and volunteers, learn the issues, and help us work toward solving problems.
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“Why would anyone want to volunteer for service on an animal shelter board?”
That is a very good question. While we cannot speak for other organizations, we can attest to the fact that service in an organization such as this one is rather thankless as far as public, or even private, recognition. However, volunteering on the Board of Directors or even at the shelter brings great personal satisfaction and peace of mind, that one has done their best to make a difference in the lives of homeless and neglected animals. Every little bit done makes a big difference.
Our shelter's directors are volunteers who receive no compensation for their time and efforts, except for the satisfaction that their contributions help to ensure the success of the shelter, and provide a better quality of life for the county's homeless and displaced animals.
Board members must often take abuse from persons who do not understand the complex issues involved in shelter operations. There is certainly no glory in the task of coping with cat and dog overpopulation. At times, decisions that have to be made are sad and stressful for both board members and shelter staff.
Ours is a working board, not an assembly of figureheads. Our directors have cleaned cages, walked dogs, groomed animals, transported animals to Rescue groups, personally paid for Medical treatment, and performed necessary facility maintenance and repairs, among other things. We communicate daily either via email, phone or sit-down meetings. We have directors who devote as many as 30 hours per week to shelter work.
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“I heard that you will not adopt out certain breeds. Is this true?”
This is partially true. Reluctantly, our shelter has a restricted adoption policy on “at-risk” breeds (that is, breeds prone to be abused at the hands of someone seeking an aggressive animal). The breeds we consider to be “at-risk” under our restricted policy are Pitbulls and Rottweilers, or mixed breeds with a predominance of these bloodlines. For these animals, we prefer to seek out and transfer to highly-qualified, certified, pre-screened, reference-verified, breed-specific rescue groups.

Pitbulls are too often wanted by individuals for fighting or other illegal operations. Various cruel means are used to make them aggressive and most spend their lives tethered to heavy chains with padlocks. For this reason adoption of these dogs is highly restrictive. Potential adopters receive higher scrutiny and my be refused adoption.
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INFO AT A GLANCE

Shelter Phone: 512 793-5463 Email: cyanimalshelter@281.com Website: www.christ-yoder.org Location: 9150 Hwy (RR) 1431 W. in Buchanan Dam Open 'Public Hours' for adoption, reclaim and surrender: from 11:00 - 3:00, Saturday through Wednesday. Staff is on hand and prepared to handle all calls during our 'Public Hours' from 11:00 - 3:00, Saturday through Wednesday. If you've lost a pet before or after our 'Public Hours', you may leave a brief description and call back number. Make arrangements to visit the Shelter ASAP. Fees: Dog Adoption: $75 + reduced cost spay/neuter fee Includes AVID microchip and registration and bag of Science Diet Canine Cat Adoption: $62 + reduced cost spay/neuter fee Includes AVID microchip and registration and bag of Science Diet Feline Owner surrender fee: Adult dog or cat: $55 Puppy or kitten in a litter: $10 per Owner Reclaim fees: $30 for the day entering the shelter and $10 for each subsequent day residing in the shelter. Must provide proof of current Rabies vaccination or the Shelter will arrange for a current Rabies vaccination and you will be reponsible for the cost of the vaccination.

To report strays or animal abuse or neglect contact your local Animal Control Officer, City Police Department or County Sheriff Department. Burnet Co. Sheriff Dept. - 512 756-8080 Llano Co. Sheriff Dept. - 325-247-5767 City of Horseshoe Bay Police Dept. - 830-598-2633 City of Marble Falls Police Dept. - 830-693-3611 City of Bertram Police Dept. - 512-355-2442 City of Burnet Police Dept. - 512-756-6404 City of Sunrise Beach - 325-388-6438 City of Llano Animal Control - 325-247-3028

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