Animal Services in Sumter County
We welcome your updates, additions, corrections, or comments: please email us. Information that you provide can be attributed to you or kept anonymous, as you prefer.
Impoundment Facilities or Shelters in Sumter County
With no impoundment facility and no animal control, Sumter County is failing to fulfill the statutory mandate of Alabama Code § 3-7A-7 that “Each county within the state shall provide a suitable county pound and impounding officer.”
The only resource we are aware of for county residents is a Facebook group created and maintained by volunteers called Lost and Found Pets of Sumter County, Alabama.
Animal Control in Sumter County
Sumter County has no animal control services — neither in the unincorporated area nor in the municipalities of Livingston, York, Cuba, Emelle, Epes, Gainesville, or Geiger.
We offer this guidance to residents and advocates who need help or who would like the county and municipalities to offer animal services.
Dog Confinement Requirements in Sumter County
County Adoption of Alabama’s Dog Confinement Statute: Dog confinement is not required in unincorporated Sumter County because the Sumter County Commission has not adopted Alabama Code § 3-1-5, which would require that dogs be confined to the owner’s premises or kept in the charge of a responsible person if off-premises. There are still steps you can take to address issues or to encourage the county to require confinement.
Dog Confinement Requirements Within Corporate Limits & Police Jurisdiction: There may be no requirement in Livingston, York, Cuba, Emelle, Epes, Gainesville, or Geiger. These municipalities do not appear to share their ordinances on their websites or via Municode and we have not yet confirmed whether a running at large law is in effect. York, the only municipality that posted ordinances on their website, had only zoning ordinances. Please email us if you can share information.
Low-Cost Spay & Neuter in Sumter County
There is not currently any animal clinic in the area that offers discounted sterilization. Hope Stapp Flowers, admin of Lost and Found Pets of Sumter County, Alabama, advised that every now and then Rocky Rockette, Director of Lauderdale County Animal Shelter in Marion, Mississippi (roughly 20 miles from the Alabama line), offers vouchers for free spay/spay neuter which he makes available to residents of Sumter County.
For the resources we are aware of elsewhere in the state, see Low-Cost Spay/Neuter in Alabama.
Sumter County Documents
Sumter County Commission Public Records Request Form: The County Commission does not appear to have a Public Records Request form on their website. Call the Commission to request a form or submit according to the Open Records Act template.
Sources
- Anonymous Representative, Sumter County Commission, 205-652-2731, stated on Apr. 29, 2025 that Sumter County has no shelter, no vet contract, and no animal control. She hung up when asked for her name as the source of that information.
- Kameka, Dispatcher, Sumter County Sheriff’s Office, stated on Mar. 25, 2025 that the county has no “dogcatcher” and has not adopted Alabama Code § 3-1-5.
- Hope Stapp Flowers, admin of Lost and Found Pets of Sumter County, Alabama, shared information about low-cost spay/neuter on Feb. 8, 2026.
Do You Have a Correction, Addition, or Comment?
Please see the note at the top of this page.