HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Huntsville Animal Services wants you to adopt a new furry friend, and they held an "Ice Cream Social" to encourage people to get to know the shelter's pups.
Huntsville Animal Services offered pets for as low as ten dollars to try to get more people to adopt or foster a furry friend.
Dr. Karen Sheppard, director of Huntsville Animal Services, says, "We don't want adoption prices to be a barrier for people to adopt a pet. We do want people to take really good care of their pets and we'll talk to you and explain how to do all that, but we want them to find homes."
it's important for the community to take home as many pets as possible to make it less likely that they'll be euthanized. Sheppard explains, "This summer has been really hard and it's not just here in Huntsville but across the United States. We don't want to euthanize animals but when we run out of kennels we end up being forced to make tough decisions."
Click here to see photos, ages, and descriptions of available animals.
The shelter is open Wednesday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Tuesday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. HAS will be closed Monday, Sept. 6, for Labor Day.
Call 256-883-3783, visit HuntsvilleAL.gov/Animal or check out their Facebook page to learn more.
If you can't adopt right now, consider one of Huntsville Animal Services' foster programs.
The most common foster home program is called Foster to Adopt. This program allows you a 14-day trial period with the dog and is for someone interested in adopting an adult dog, but would like to ‘test drive’ the dog at home. Although this is a very successful program, HAS warns owners that all new pets should be given at least 3 months to settle into a new home and new routine. Some pets like puppies, kittens, small dogs, and others may not be eligible for this program.
The newest foster home program is called a Sleep-Over. This program allows the fostering party to take home a pet for 1 to 4 nights. Upon returning the pet to the shelter, the fostering party will complete a form sharing all the information collected about the pet during their visit including information such as: did the pet like other pets, housebroken, tolerates cats, likes children, etc. This program helps HAS develop a profile for the shelter pet.
Another foster program called the Foster to Rehome program is for sick pets, aged pets, and underaged puppies and kittens. Additionally, sometimes a fostering party takes care of the dog until it becomes adopted. These volunteers take appealing photos of the pet inside a home and along with a narrative about the pet’s personality are submitted to be posted on the HAS Facebook page.