Animal Services in Blount County

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Impoundment Facilities or Shelters in Blount County

The Animal Adoption Center of Blount County (AAC), established in 2005, is operated directly by Blount County Commission and is the impoundment facility for all of Blount County, with Karen Startley at the helm since approximately 2014.

The AAC welcomes the community to visit the animals. When you turn from Highway 1 to the AAC driveway, use the callbox at the gate to request entry. Appointments are required only for those who wish to surrender a pet.

The facility has 52 indoor dog kennels, a puppy room, cat room, covered outdoor puppy kennels, and additional uncovered outdoor kennels to which adult dogs are brought while the indoor kennels are cleaned. As of late 2024, AAC staff included five full time employees and four part-timers working weekends and holidays.

According to Karen, Additional details from Karen:

• Stray Hold is 7 days for adult animals.
• Spay/Neuter is performed on most older animals prior to adoption, while adopters of younger animals receive a sterilization voucher to utilize when the puppy or kitten reaches the required age or weight.
• Animal Census Reports are prepared monthly and can be requested from the County Commission. Data is not posted by the AAC or by the county. I request from Karen each month and post some data at Blount County Shelter Data and post all of the AAC’s scans at the end of each year. The data has been provided promptly by the AAC but does not fully comply with the Animal Census Reporting Act.

Websites: The AAC-maintained Facebook page is used primarily to share volunteer Wendy Montealegre’s photos and videos of adoptable animals. Minimal information is posted to publicly-accessible adoption websites (Adopt a Pet and 24PetConnect) and the AAC phone number, hours, and address listed at Adopt a Pet are inaccurate. BlountAnimals.com, administered by Kristin Yarbrough (who is also the author of this page), is linked from the Blount County’s Animal Services page.

Animal Control in Blount County

Animal Control in Unincorporated Areas of Blount County is handled by Dep. Brock Echols, who began his post as ACO at the Blount County Sheriff's Office in Aug. 2024.

Dep. Echols is the only Blount County ACO, covering 650 sq.mi, and serving 60,000 people. He shared that the workload could keep several ACOs busy; former ACO Sgt. Jeff Kirkland had said the same. When calling, keep in mind that it may be the following weekday before Dep. Echols is able to respond. Cruelty and hoarding cases are prioritized and can take a full day or longer to address. Simply driving from one call to another can take over an hour. Even with this challenge, Dep. Echols quickly demonstrated great effectiveness by uncovering and ending severe hoarding and abuse situations, two of which had festered for over 15 years prior to Echols’ tenure.

On evenings and weekends, other deputies may answer calls. The Blount County Sheriff’s Office advises that since Dep. Echols specializes in enforcement of animal law, it may be most effective to wait to report until he is on duty, or follow up with him if the initial response was by another officer, to ensure that he receives the report.

Animal Control Within Corporate Limits & Police Jurisdiction:

• Blountsville: Report violations of municipal code, including neighbors who allow their dogs to run loose, to Town Hall at 205-429-2406. Reports are addressed by Code Enforcement Officer Phillip Hathcock via a notice for the first violation and a citation for a second offense. Impoundment of loose dogs is handled by Blount County Animal Control. Neglect, abuse, hoarding, and other violations of state law are addressed by Blount County Animal Control and/or Blountsville Police.
• Oneonta: Impoundment of loose dogs is the responsibility of the Public Works Department. Report violations of city ordinances, including neighbors who allow their dogs to run loose, to Oneonta City Hall at 205-274-2150. For other concerns or violations, call Oneonta Police at 205-625-4351 or Blount County Animal Control.
• Allgood, Altoona, Cleveland, County Line, Garden City, Hayden, Highland Lake, Locust Fork, Nectar, Remlap, Rosa, Snead, Susan Moore, Trafford, and Warrior: Call Blount County Animal Control.

Dep. Echols impounds loose dogs countywide except in Oneonta, where impoundment is handled by the Public Works department. Cruelty investigation within corporate limits may be handled by Dep. Echols and/or the local police department.

Dog Confinement Requirements in Blount County

County Adoption of Alabama’s Dog Confinement Statute: Dog confinement is required in Blount County because Blount County Commission adopted Alabama Code § 3-1-5, which requires that dogs be confined to the owner’s premises or kept in the charge of a responsible person if off-premises. The adoption was done at the request of several residents who came to commissioners with their concerns about public safety and quality of life. The Commission’s discussion and vote can be found at BlountAnimals.com. See these resources for videos of the discussion amongst county residents, commissioners, and the county attorney, and meeting minutes documenting the July 9, 2024 discussion (see pages 2–3) and the Aug. 13, 2024 unanimous vote.

Dog Confinement Requirements Within Corporate Limits & Police Jurisdiction: Due to a combination of the statute and local ordinances, dog confinement is required in all of Blount County. For specifics, see Dog Laws in Blount County.

How to Report a Violation: See How to Report an At-Large Violation in Blount County.

Low-Cost Spay & Neuter in Blount County

See Low-Cost Spay & Neuter in Blount County at BlountAnimals.com and Low-Cost Spay/Neuter in Alabama.

Access to Information & Public Records in Blount County

Commission: Several requests in 2024 and 2025 were fulfilled promptly via email by Rachel Simmons (who is no longer at the Commission). A July 2025 request took 10 weeks after delays seemingly related to general busy-ness; County Administrator Mark Staton replied promptly and frankly when I escalated the request to him, and Mark provided the records soon after. I met with Mark for the first time in Oct. 2025 and appreciated his openness and interest in animal concerns in the county. As for elected officials, former Commission Chairman Chris Green and current Chairman Bradley Harvey (who was then a Commissioner) both spoke openly in summer 2024 regarding the Commission’s adoption of Alabama Code § 3-1-5.

Blount County Municipalities: I researched animal-related municipal ordinances in Blount County municipalities in late 2024 and early 2025, which required requesting from the many town councils that did not post their records online. (Only Blountsville and Oneonta publish ordinances on Municode.) All requests were submitted informally (via phone or email, without use of a form), and all requests were fulfilled via email without resistance except in Snead, where the town clerk insisted on an in-person request. I shared my thoughts in this commentary.

Animal Shelter: Karen Startley, AAC director, has consistently provided monthly census data via email. Karen did not respond to multiple requests to authorize automized data sharing through AAC’s Shelterluv software to enable Shelter Animals Count (SAC) data visualization for recognizing and analyzing patterns and opportunities to improve shelter effectiveness. I had integrated SAC visualization on BlountAnimals.com, only to find that the data set was empty: according to Maddie Corey of SAC on July 14, 2025, AAC had not finished the internal Shelterluv setup process, so data was not being uploaded. Maddie provided Karen with simple instructions, and I offered to come to AAC to assist Karen with the setup, but Karen did not respond to me or to Maddie over multiple attempts in July and August 2025.

Access to other AAC information has been increasingly scarce. Despite an open invitation to cover the shelter in the Blount Countian, I have largely given up on efforts to report about or promote the Blount County animal shelter because of the reluctance and often refusal of AAC leadership to share information about operations, even feel-good topics such as upcoming adoption events which depend on media coverage for their success. In many conversations in 2024 and early 2025, AAC leadership was quick to disparage the local community as being unwilling and unsuitable for fostering, volunteering, or adoption. However, in my experience and the accounts of former volunteers and others who tried to get involved at the shelter, it was AAC personnel who tended to discourage or prevent most forms of community involvement.

Blount County Sheriff’s Office: I have the highest praise for Public Information Officer Sgt. Jason Paul, who has always communicated with thoughtfulness, warmth, and a balance of openness and respect of privacy. Sgt. Paul has graciously educated me on law enforcement operations, making it possible to grasp a bigger picture and to report on topics like dog confinement law procedures with greater accuracy. He welcomes even the tough questions and recognizes that my intention is not to judge but to understand. It is a pleasure to work with someone who has the capacity and desire for a trusting, respectful collaboration.

Blount County Probation Office: An Alabama Department of Probation and Paroles (ADPP) officer promptly met with me and spoke openly. I very much appreciate this person who I am not naming due to state department restrictions on communication with reporters.

Blount County Circuit Clerk: The Circuit Clerk’s office has indefinitely relocated to 1000 Lincoln Ave in Oneonta. » On my May 2, 2025 visit, the courthouse had no public terminal for court research, which I had sought to bypass the $10 per name/case search fee at Just One Look (Alacourt). On June 10, I was told that a public terminal was installed, however access is limited to days that court is not in session, according to a staff member in the Circuit Clerk’s office. Printed court records may be purchased from the Circuit Clerk’s office. Fees start at $5 and the purchaser is supposed to be able to select the specific case records desired; however, the staff member offered me only all or nothing, complained several times that my request, which required that she print the pages and then staple the four packets, was “a lot of work,” and then charged $46.50 rather than $22. Circuit Clerk Cindy Massey refunded the overcharge when I inquired about the math. On a visit to the temporary location on Oct. 2, Cindy Massey kindly directed me to the second window and Tracy, who could not print records at the time due to a staffing shortage, was so helpful to advise me of the status of the case so that I did not have to make a return trip.

Blount County District Attorney: The DA’s office has ignored or declined invitations to comment for Blount Countian coverage of animal cruelty and other legal topics. The only time Blount County District Attorney Pamela Casey returned a call to me, on June 3, 2025, regarded possession bans in animal hoarding cases. Casey reacted as if the concept was nonsensical, asking me whether I had ever, anywhere, heard of a possession ban being issued. I cited the sentencing of Bobbie Jean Taylor (1, 2), former director of the Lawrence County Animal Shelter. The day after that phone call, Blount County’s first pet possession ban was ordered in an animal hoarding case prosecuted by Assistant DA Patrick Hubauer.

Blount County Judges: On June 4–6, 2025 I emailed and called the office of District Judge Sherry Burns and emailed Circuit Judge Gregory Reid with an inquiry about possession bans; I did not hear back from either.

Blount County Department of Human Services (DHR): Director Catherine Denard made herself available on short notice for an Apr. 3, 2025, meeting regarding the human aspects of animal hoarding and enthusiasticly invited further collaboration; but follow-up was difficult — as it turned out, Catherine had been quietly replaced as in late July 2025, according to two unverifiable sources and the Alabama DHR website, which now lists an interim Blount County DHR Director.

Blount County Documents

• Animal Adoption Center of Blount County Animal Census Data
• Adoption of Alabama Code § 3-1-5
• Blount County Commission Public Records Request Form (PDF), also accessible from the Blount County website: click the Government menu. Requests may be submitted to the email address on the form.

Sources

• Karen Startley, Director of Animal Adoption Center of Blount County, kgilham@blountcountyal.gov, discussed AAC and other topics with Kristin Yarbrough on many occasions. Shelter sterilization practices were provided by Karen in April 2025. Staff details are from Karen in late 2024. The cat carcass 3 lb. weight was provided by Karen via email on Aug. 13, 2025.
• ACO Dep. Brock Echols spoke to Kristin Yarbrough on Aug. 18, 2025.
• Mark Staton, Blount County Administrator, 205-973-0285.
• Blount County Sheriff’s Office: 205-625-4127 (non-emergency).
• BlountAnimals.com: Kristin Yarbrough maintains the Blount Animals website and is also the author of this page. Information provided on this page is from my direct observation and from ongoing conversations with county officials, as noted.

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