The City of Brewton Animal Control and Adoption Center is open for business — and business is going good.
Area residents can get a look at the improvements made to the facility and see the pets already up for adoption.
The BACAC will hold open house at the facility on U.S. 31 South near Georgia-Pacific Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. A tour of the facility will be available as well as a look at pets who are already adoptable or will be up for adoption in the coming week.
Christina Green, who serves as office manager for the center, said several animals have already been taken in at the facility and adoptions have begun.
“We have picked up quite a few animals,” Green said. “We picked up five in January and have already picked up five dogs and puppies this month. We were also able to catch three of four cats that we had received complaints on so far.”
The animals already being housed at the center are enjoying fresh, clean facilities, Green said.
“We’ve done some cleaning up and sprucing up,” Green said. “We’ve done some painting and generally making everything clean and ready to take care of the animals we’ve taken in and the ones we will get in the future.”
Connie Frazier, a member of the staff at the center, said one of the functions of the Animal Control division is to reunite pets with their owners — and they are taking steps to make that happen.
“If a pet is lost or strays from home, we want to do what we can to get that pet back with their owner,” Frazier said. “We are taking lost and found reports and checking the animals we pick up against those reports. Getting a pet back to their owner is one thing we want to do in our work.”
Green said three animals have already been adopted at the center as the choice of available pets grows.
“We have 12 dogs and puppies and three cats in the center and some of them will eventually be adopted,” Green said “With the three adoptions we’ve also had one pet returned to their owner. We want to do our part to find good homes for the animals that come into the center — whether that’s a new home with an adoptive family or returned to their own home.”
Adoption fees are charged when an animal goes to a new home, Green said.
“Along with the fees, we are making sure that the animals that leave here get spayed or neutered,” Green said. “Anyone who adopts a pet that isn’t already spayed or neutered will have to sign an agreement to have that done. They will have to provide evidence to us that it has been taken care of, or we have the authority to repossess the animal.”
Green said the main reason for the spay and neuter policy is to assure the animal does not reproduce and increase the number of stray or neglected animals in the city.
“We love animals,” Green said. “I have dogs, cats and horses at my house that I care for every day. We want pet owners to love and care for their animals in a responsible way. It’s hard to see animals come into a shelter situation and realize that some of them will have to be euthanized because they were abandoned, unwanted or neglected.”
Green said the City’s policy is to house animals for seven days before they are available for adoption or scheduled for euthanization.
“We want to find homes for the animals, but we can’t take care of them forever,” Green said. “After seven days they are scheduled to be euthanized unless we find them a home.”
Green said since the center is just getting started, there are a lot more things that need to be addressed.
“We are continuing to make improvements,” Green said. “It’s mostly cosmetic things we need to take care but there are some other things we really need to help make the operations here run more smoothly and economically for the City of Brewton.”
Green provided a wish list of items they hope residents served by the department will be able to donate for use at the center. The list included items such as blankets and towels, Clorox, cleaning liquids such as Fabuloso, washing powder, dish detergent, any dog or cat food, kitty litter, litter boxes and toys for both cats and dogs.
“We are here to take care of animal control for the residents of the City of Brewton,” Green said. “We want what’s best for our residents and the animals in our community.”
To report a lost, found or stray animal, contact the  animal control staff at 867-1400.