HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – The City of Huntsville held a news conference at Huntsville Animal Services on Wednesday, celebrating a milestone for the shelter.

Mayor Tommy Battle said when he came into office nine years ago, about 10,000 animals came to Animal Services and only 3,000 of those were adopted out.

In 2016, approximately 5,100 animals came into the facility. Today, 92 percent of the animals that come in are adopted out.  Mayor Battle credits the hard work of the staff and volunteers for that.

“Ninety-two percent of the animals go back into society that come here, and it’s a factor of a lot of things… factors of hard work,” said Mayor Battle.

“If we still were dealing with 10,000 animals, I’m sorry to tell you we couldn’t have adopted them all.  It’s only because we are dealing with half the number,” said Dr. Karen Sheppard, Animal Services Director.

Dr. Sheppard says she believes their spay and neuter assistance program has helped bring the number of animals that come in down, and it has made it easier to be more hands-on with the animals.

Huntsville Animal Services also has volunteer and foster programs for the animals to make sure they are touched and interact with people to help the animals transition to a forever home a little more easily.

Search dogs and cats available for adoption at the shelter!