The Escambia County Humane Society is in the middle of a “Summer of Free Love” — waiving the fee on adopted cats and kittens.

But the shelter also has many needs that don’t disappear in the summer.

The shelter plays a vital role with the pet population in the area and helps saves the lives of local canines and felines.

While the shelter does many good things in the area, there are many needs it has.

“Our most pressing needs right now are food, paper towels, newspapers (for lining kennels), clean plastic 16 ounce water or soda bottles with lids on to put kibble in to use as toys, towels, kitty litter, dawn dishwashing liquid, detergent, bleach, and, of course, money,” Director Renee Jones said. “We can also use dog collars and leashes, dog houses, and kennels. Those things we provide for folks in need in the community.”

Donations can be made on behalf of someone’s’ birthday or as a memorial for the loss of a pet. In those cases, the shelter will send an acknowledgment to the recipient and also one to the contributor.

“We are right now in the midst of kitten season,” Jones said. “Cats are coming in left and right. To get more adopted, we are having a promotion called ‘A Summer of Free Love’ with the fee waived on adoptions for cats and kittens. All are vaccinated, leukemia tested, microchipped and spayed/neutered. The adoption process involves a short information sheet that the adopter fills out regarding their family and pets and then picking out their favorite ball of fluff. Anyone who would like to help with this promotion but is unable to actually adopt a cat or kitten can provide a ‘sponsorship’ of $75 which is our usual adoption fee.”

Kitten season occurs when warm weather coincides with female cat’s heat cycles. The easiest way to help reduce the overwhelming numbers of unwanted cats is to spay and neuter. Kitten season presents many challenges for shelter staff and the cats in their care.

With resources already hard to come by, many are stretched to their limit.

Adult cats are the most overlooked by potential adopters when kittens are in abundance.

Jones said the adoption fee of $100 for adults (over 6 months old) includes up to date vaccinations, microchip, heartworm test, and spay or neuter. The adoption fee of $125 for puppies (under 6 months old) includes up to date vaccinations, microchip and spay or neuter.

Available pets can be seen at www.petango.com/humanesocietybrewton and www.petango.com/humanesocietyatmore (for the pets available at theAtmore location.) “We do get many adopters who look at our pets online and drive in from Mobile and Pensacola on a regular basis, but we also get folks who drive in from other states such as Georgia, Tennessee, and Louisiana,” Jones said. “A few months back, a couple vacationing in Florida from Canada made a detour to adopt a young, redbone coonhound named Daisy. We can’t wait to get pictures of her in the Canadian winter. She will need a warm sweater. We also drive 10 dogs/puppies to the Petsmart store in Pensacola two Saturdays a month to do ‘off site’ adoptions.”

The shelter also has transports of animals that they send to other shelters with higher adoption rates.

“Regarding the transports, people can check us out on our Facebook page and why we are doing them, however, we don’t want people thinking that we don’t have any problem getting rid of the thousands of puppies that come from our unspayed and unneutered dogs here at the shelter,” Jones said. “They just take them to other shelters. The transports are a valuable tool for us to save lives, but they are sporadic and a blessing, not a method of operating.”

The most important way for anyone to support the Humane Society is to make sure that their pets are spayed or neutered, Jones said.

“By not being part of the problem, you are part of the solution,” she said. My favorite quote by Mother Teresa is ‘we can do no great things., only small things with great love.’”

HSEC is a non-profit animal welfare organization that handles animal services for Escambia County through municipal contracts.

There are two open admission shelters in Brewton and Atmore.

In order to save as many lives as possible, the shelter not only promotes adoptions at its shelters but also do off-site adoptions at Petsmart-Pensacola the second and fourth Saturdays of each month and are actively engaged in transferring adoptable puppies and dogs to shelters in more urban areas who have a demand for adoptable animals that they can not meet in their community.

The shelter is open Tuesday-Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.