HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - The city animal shelter is reducing pet adoption fees in an effort to spare more stray dogs and cats from being euthanized.

Huntsville Animal Services Director Dr. Karen Hill Sheppard said the shelter recently implemented a flat adoption fee of $120 for most puppies and adult dogs and $80 for cats and kittens. The fee includes a lifetime animal license, spaying or neutering, and up-to-date vaccinations

Previously, the shelter had a tiered adoption fee that ranged as high as $132 for dogs and $93 for cats.

The shelter is located at 4950 Triana Blvd. Call (256) 883-3783 to inquire about adopting a pet. The Friends of Huntsville Animal Services Facebook page includes photo galleries of available dogs and cats.



Changes to the city's animal control ordinance approved by the Huntsville City Council on Feb. 27 also allow the shelter to run specials on large dogs and kittens and give away special-needs pets.

Huntsville Animal Services Director Dr. Karen Hill Sheppard at the city animal shelter on Triana Boulevard. (File photo)

"I'm just so happy that we got this done," Sheppard told AL.com Tuesday. "We have a puppy right now that has epileptic seizures. If we find the right family, we might just give it to the family. We understand that particular pet is going to have more extensive medical bills."

The shelter plans to slash its kitten adoption fee to $35 during the summer months when strays are more common, she said, while most dogs over 50 pounds will cost just $50.

"They're the ones that get overlooked, and we want to encourage people to take a big dog," said Sheppard.

Huntsville is also reducing the price of a lifetime animal license for lower-income families. The lifetime license, which is offered only for spayed or neutered pets, has cost $35 since 2005. The city is cutting that to $20 for pet owners with household incomes below $25,000 as well as those enrolled in Medicaid, Social Security Disability or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

And people who previously had to pay a $50 penalty to retrieve their impounded animal from the shelter can now apply that money instead toward having their pet spayed or neutered, said Sheppard.

She said she hopes the changes cause a permanent spike in the number of adoptions at the city shelter, which means fewer unwanted dogs and cats being put to sleep.

Currently, about 60 percent of stray dogs and 30 percent of stray cats at the shelter find new homes. The rest are euthanized.

Sheppard said the number of strays taken in by the shelter has been trending down since peaking at 10,262 in 2009. The 2013 figures are still being reviewed and will be released publicly in the next few weeks, she said.