Georgetown hopeful merger with Williamson County Animal Shelter will happen this fall

GEORGETOWN, Texas (KXAN) -- The Georgetown Animal Shelter is nearly at capacity once again. It's a problem the city hopes to fix by merging with the Williamson County Animal Shelter.

"Like everywhere, we're growing like crazy, and the shelter that served us in the early 2000s no longer serves us today," Jack Daly, Assistant Public Works Director for Georgetown, said. Daly also oversees the shelter.

That growing city -- and growing pet population -- is what city leaders in Georgetown have cited as the reason for the merger, with discussions starting back in 2020.

"We've really come up with a good plan to both expand the kennel capacity for Georgetown, as well as help expand the shelter for Williamson County," Daly added.

What happens next?

It seems like a simple enough idea, but because the county's animal shelter involves other cities, it gets a bit more complex.

"It's like a letter agreement between all the member governments, so the county, Round Rock, Cedar Park, Hutto, Leander and Georgetown saying 'hey, here's what we think a merger will look like,'" Daly explained.

Attorneys are also involved because city money is going to a county owned-and-operated facility. A lease agreement is what's next. That will then head to the state's attorney general.

"There's so much uncertainty when you involve lots of different governments, including the state government, there's just a lot of uncertainty on timing," Daly said.

All while that's going on in the background, animals are still getting the care they need, even as those costs continue to rise.

"[Georgetown] has a contract veterinarian that does surgeries every Wednesday. For more complicated things, we send that out to local veterinarians to help us with," Daly said.

A long process as the city looks to find its forever home, too.

The city hopes to wrap up the merger by Oct. 1.

Summer remains a busy season for cats at the shelter. Visit its website to see what animals are available for adoption.