Ryan Whisenhunt with Jerald, the shelter’s current Pet of the Week
CULLMAN – The Cullman County Animal Shelter was happy to report to The Tribune that pet adoptions are on the rise, significantly higher than numbers from last year. The shelter’s Ryan Whisenhunt shared the facts and figures:
- August 2016 – 49 adoptions; August 2017 – 61, with three days still to go
- Jan.-Aug. 2016 – 209 adoptions; Jan.-Aug. 2017 – 315 adoptions
The 106-adoption difference seems to be no temporary fluke. According to Whisenhunt, at least three factors have contributed to the rise:
- Assistance from rescue groups, primarily the Cullman Area Animal Welfare Association (CAAWA) and Birmingham-based Sugarbelle Foundation. CAAWA is a no-kill rescue group. The Sugarbelle Foundation assists owners who have trouble taking care of their pets due to financial hardship, and networks with numerous rescue services. “We just started this relationship with the Sugarbelle Foundation,” said Whisenhunt, “and (Jana Budoff Maynard) has been phenomenal. She has reached out to multiple other people; her network is so huge, across multiple counties.”
- Use of social media. Whisenhunt and other staffers post pictures and information on Facebook, both of stray animals recently picked up or brought in, and of pets available for adoption. They encourage sharing of those posts to get the word out. Whisenhunt shared, “Facebook is a really good tool for us. We also have a website that we use; it’s called Petfinder.com, and people can search using different criteria. If someone wants a German Shepherd that’s black, that’s female, that’s house-trained, they can actually make that search very specific, and search our files and files from all over.”
- The Tribune’s “Pet of the Week” series. Four of the six pets spotlighted so far have been adopted. The feature increases the visibility of the shelter, and helps create interest in pet adoption, not just of specific animals.
The shelter takes in numerous strays that show obvious signs of being someone’s pet, such as collars. People who find such animals and choose to hold them at their homes can also call the shelter and give information about them. The shelter maintains active files with descriptions of recently reported lost and found pets, so a person who reports a lost animal can be put in touch with anyone who has found one of a similar description.
The shelter is required to hold strays for seven days before making them available for adoption. After the hold period, those animals become property of the County, and can be adopted by new owners, so Whisenhunt encourages anyone who loses a pet to contact the shelter as quickly as possible.
The Cullman County Animal Shelter offers a generous package of services in its adoption fee.
Said Whisenhunt, “I believe that our package has so much in it, compared to other facilities. When they leave here, they’re altered, with a microchip. They leave with a rabies vaccination. They leave with their first round of shots, with their de-wormer. They leave with a pet insurance policy that lasts 45 days, in case something was to happen. So I feel like our package is really good, and it’s worth the money.”
People who adopt pets from the shelter can also get their first bag of food from Pet Depot, for only the cost of sales tax.
“We’re really happy about the rise (in adoptions),” Whisenhunt concluded. “It helps us, making sure that we are not having to do the alternative. It helps us help people, getting animals into homes where they’re an asset to the family. It’s definitely been a positive first part of the year.”
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