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Huntsville Animal Services waives adoption fees for some pets leading up to Christmas

Lowered adoption fees, as well as no-fee adoptions, help reduce shelter populations.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Huntsville Animal Services is waiving the adoption fees for 25 different pets, one for each day leading up to the Christmas holiday, as a part of its "Home for the Holidays" event.

Additionally, HAS Director Dr. Karen Sheppard says regular adoption fees are always subsidized to help encourage adoptions, with most adult pet fees waived to $35 and puppies and kittens to $50, with some exceptions.

Lowered adoption fees, as well as no-fee adoptions, help reduce shelter populations. For those who can’t adopt right now, HAS offers a sleepover foster program for the holidays.

“We have some amazing animals that would make great companions during the holiday season and beyond,” said Dr. Karen Sheppard, director of HAS. “If you can take a dog to foster for a night or two, that’s still better than being in a kennel.”

Each adoptable pet is vaccinated, spayed/neutered, microchipped, and comes with a City license and free bag of pet food, while supplies last. Click here to see photos, ages, and descriptions of available animals.

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Located at 4950 Triana Blvd. in Huntsville, the shelter is open 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday and Wednesday and 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Tuesday. HAS will be closed Nov. 25-27 for the Thanksgiving holiday.

HAS's adoption package includes vaccinations, spay/neuter surgery, microchip, a City license and a free bag of dog food. 

“We are still continuing to see too many dogs and cats brought into the shelter,” said HAS Director Dr. Karen Sheppard. “Now is a great time to take home a dog because the weather will soon be perfect for being outside, which is good for both pets and people.”

If you’re unable to adopt a pet, consider fostering an animal through the shelter’s foster program. Click here to see photos, ages and descriptions of available animals and scroll down to learn more about foster programs.

“So many people think the dogs at a shelter are broken or have severe health or behavioral issues, and that is far from the case,” said HAS Director Dr. Karen Sheppard. “We have so many dogs that were family members and just need a new family. We provide a two-week trial that can be extended to four weeks. Sleepovers and fostering are also great options.”

Located at 4950 Triana Boulevard in Huntsville, the shelter is open Monday 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.   

Call 256-883-3783, visit HuntsvilleAL.gov/Animal or check them out on Facebook to learn more.

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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.

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