AUSTIN, Texas — The screwworm outbreak is having a major impact on animal shelter budgets across Texas. Instant kill and preventative medications for dogs and cats are an unprecedented expense.

Paul is a rescue dog from South Texas, where he was living on the streets and starving. He is now at Austin Pets Alive! getting Screwworm prevention medication and the treatment he needs to get healthy.

“Any dog that enters our shelter period, but especially if they look like this, we are going over them with a fine-tooth comb and looking for anything that might be a wound where a screwworm might have been able to gain access,” said Dr. Ellen Jefferson, CEO and President of Austin Pets Alive!

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Dr. Jefferson says dogs and cats need regular checks of their eyes, noses, ears, and underneath their fur. But Austin Pets Alive! says the best protection is a combination of Capstar, which is an instant-kill medication for existing active screwworm larvae, and prescription preventatives that provide ongoing protection when administered every 30 days.

“Just to buy the initial Capstar for our program, it was close to $10,000,” said Rebecca Giamona, Asst. Medical Care Director at Austin Pets Alive!

Giamona says preventative meds are also putting a heavy financial strain on the nonprofit’s budget at a cost of around $70,000.

“We need about 5,000 doses of the monthly preventative, and they are roughly $14 to $15 per dose,” said Giamona.

Products with the active ingredients ending in l, a, n, e, r are highly effective at preventing and treating infestations. But keeping Paul and every shelter animal up to date will take help from the public.

“Donations, and hopefully some more donations,” said Giamona.

An infestation of New World Screwworm can be painful, disfiguring, and potentially deadly for animals. Most cases involve livestock, especially cattle, but dogs and cats can also get infestations.

AUSTIN, Texas – Central Texans gather to celebrate Juneteenth or “Freedom Day” on June 19 and commemorate the end of slavery.

What you can do:

The Greater East Austin Youth Association (GEAYA) is hosting the Central Texas Juneteenth Parade and Festival today (6/19).

It’s free and taking place at Rosewood Park in East Austin located at 2300 Rosewood Ave.

The schedule for the events is as follows:

• ACME Juneteenth FunRun – 8:30 AM – 9:30 AM
• Juneteenth Historical Parade – 10 AM – 12 PM
• Park Celebration and Fireworks – 12 PM – 9:45 PM

Other events

On June 20, the Carver Kickback: Juneteenth Edition will be taking place 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the George Washington Carver Museum, Cultural, and Genealogy Center located at 1165 Angelina Street.

It will be a day of celebration and remembrance and there will be BBQ plates and music as well as vendors and hands-on activations.

The backstory:

Juneteenth commemorates the end of formal slavery in Texas on June 19, 1865, two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, and more than one month following the end of the American Civil War. 

Colloquially known as “The Black 4th of July,” Juneteenth marks the beginning of an African American journey to carve a new place in society for free people to shape identities independent of racial caricature, eradicate slave culture, promote ethnic pride, and create economic prosperity.