Operations came to a close at the Humane Society of Escambia County Sunday, and all animals were either adopted out or transported to area shelters.
“Words can not begin to express my gratitude to all of you who shared, cross-posted, called, came in, adopted, rescued, made phone calls, sent messages, emails, networked, and in one way or the other contributed to this awesome success,” said Rodica Angel on the HSEC Facebook page. “When we saw ourselves a month ago with no future in the shelter, but with almost 200 poor souls whose future depended on us, we almost went into despair. But anything is possible with the help of so many animal lovers out there. And (the community) proved it.”
In July, the local animal organization announced it would close its doors after the City of Brewton opted to perform its own animal control services. That move reduced the shelter’s funding by more than $65,000 annually, and when the county could not meet the shortfall, the decision was made to stop operations on Aug. 31.
The county commission gave the HSEC an additional $31,000 on top of its annual $120,000 commitment to finish out the month.
Now, the county must decide how to handle animal control for area residents.
Chairman David Stokes said Tuesday, “The entire commission has discussed how we plan to proceed with the animal control services for the county.”
Stokes said discussions are ongoing between the county and the City of Brewton for animal services.
“We hope to ratify the agreement with the City of Brewton (at the next commission meeting) for them to accept animals picked up in the County,” Stokes said.
Angel said the Humane Society plans to “take a little time to regroup, and form a network of fostering homes, because even though we will never again operate a kill shelter, we will still be dedicated to saving as many animals in Escambia County as possible.”