Humane Society Of West Al

General information

The Humane Society of West Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa, AL, was established in July 1971 when a group of concerned citizens rallied on behalf of the local animals. Animal control at that time was very rudimentary: the “housing” consisted of a double-tiered row of open cages with no protection from rain, heat, or cold. Dogs were handled with pitchforks and rumor said a bullet to the head ended their lives. No provisions were available for cats or other animals.
After a public meeting in the auditorium of Alabama Power Company, the new Tuscaloosa County Humane Society formed a board of directors, which promptly gained 501(c)3 status. Through the generosity of Dr. Sarah Rogers, we were soon able to build a shelter on 35th Street with a 100-animal capacity and a small pasture to the side. As is common in many American communities, we became a dual agency when we contracted with the Cities of Tuscaloosa and Northport and Tuscaloosa County to perform animal control and then house the strays—and yet still function as a private, nonprofit humane society.
For over twenty years, we tried to keep the animals in our care healthy, safe, and happy as we took in strays through our animal-control officers and accepted owner-surrendered family pets at the shelter. We were instrumental in developing local animal ordinances to supplement the weak state laws; in the late eighties, we were able to persuade Tuscaloosa and Northport to pass a leash law—so that many fewer dogs were automobile casualties and many fewer puppies were born from random breeding. Unfortunately, the Humane Society board also spent most of those years trying to increase the dollar amount of the contract to cover the services we were providing. Our costs (and the number of animals) steadily increased, yet the governments wanted to cut our funding and occasionally tried to mount “hostile” takeovers. We found ourselves more and more frequently subsidizing the animal-control program with money donated for our humane work.
Negotiations over the contract failed when “politics” came to a head in late 1993. Various local officials believed that the government could perform animal control more cheaply (Tuscaloosa through the Department of Transportation, Northport through the Police Department, and the County through the Sheriff’s Department). For a few months, we functioned as the governmental holding facility but had no field officers. Soon thereafter, amid much controversy and with the presumption of cost-effectiveness, a private individual (as a for-profit enterprise) created the Metro Shelter on Watermelon Road, to be used as the official holding location.
Our long-time dependence on the governmental contract made the 1994 transition to being strictly a humane organization rather difficult. One of our first decisions was to become a no-kill shelter with the name Humane Society of West Alabama (reflecting our willingness to help animals anywhere). Our supposed ill fortune got us really focused on our mission to help animals and out of the political struggle to maintain the contract. Financially, we no longer could expect a lump sum of money each month; instead we had to support our shelter through fund-raisers and donations (the nationally known humane organizations do not distribute funds at the local level). It soon became obvious that we would also have to “raid” our nest egg (saved toward building a new and larger shelter) for operating expenses. We were inundated with animals almost immediately and needed $7,000 a month for salaries, veterinary care, overhead, etc. We wanted to save as many lives as possible and always kept an increasingly long waiting list. As money became tighter, our building deteriorated and we could afford fewer and fewer employees. When the nest egg had been depleted, we found homes for the last of our dogs and cats and sadly closed the shelter on November 1, 1997.
Through the sale of our building, land, and equipment, we paid our debts and still had enough funds to stay in existence, but not enough to establish another shelter. For three years, we relied on our voice-mail system to find homes for animals, learn of cruelty cases, reunite lost pets with their owners, educate the public about proper pet care, treat sick and injured animals, etc. In 1999 the Metro Shelter moved to the site of our old pasture, creating confusion about our separate roles in the community.
In October 2000, the Animal Coalition of Tuscaloosa (ACT)—consisting of the Humane Society, T-Town P.A.W.S., West Alabama Animal Rescue, and Metro—began operating an adoption room at Pet Supplies “Plus.” This cooperative venture resulted in the homing of hundreds of cats and dogs. However, it was an exhausting effort, entailing the scheduling of almost 50 volunteers each week and ensuring that someone would always be on-call for emergencies. It was also an expensive effort, since employees had to be paid for 86 hours a week. One by one, the groups dropped out, until only we remained in June 2003. Paying the salaries became prohibitive, so we moved out of Pet Supplies “Plus” on December 24th and relied solely on foster homes.
We decided that it was important to continue to house animals and also be in a central location. We invested in an older home on Veterans Memorial Parkway. With the help (time and money) of volunteers, we have made renovations and converted the kitchen into our office/headquarters; the remainder of the building is home to a select number of current healthy, vetted cats that are free to romp and play—no more cages! Our dogs (and more cats) remained in foster care.
With no paid staff, the adoption center is open on Saturdays only—yet we were stronger than ever and free as a private rescue group to focus only on the care of our animals.
After the April 27th, 2011 tornado left damage to our Veterans Memorial Parkway location, we noticed other maintenance issues and mulled over a big decision to determine the better investment - repairs for the small house or a new adoption center. The small house on a small lot left us wanting; we dreamed of a larger building with all the comforts of a real home for the cats and the convenience to act as an office for adoptions. In May 2014, we found just that in our new cat adoption center, located just across the river in Northport! At 2430 36th Street in Northport, we've expanded into larger quarters for our animals, with more storage and workspace for us. With the dedication of volunteers and donors, we were able to enclose a deck to create a long-awaited "catio," a benefit of periodic fresh outdoor air for our adoptable cats while supervised in a safe enclosure.
As always, money and space remain our ongoing hurdles to help animals; as always, we are overwhelmed with requests for assistance. Volunteers, foster homes, and donations for vet care are our biggest needs. The Humane Society of West Alabama has traveled a long and often rocky road, but thousands of animals have benefited from our work—“because we care.”