Shelter Animals Roll Out in Search of Families

Posted on: Nov 13th, 2015 | Announcements

The Mobile County Animal Shelter will be rolling out its new adoption trailer this weekend loaded with irresistible pets on board for its first community parade. At the same time, the shelter will be launching a program in January to microchip all its adoptable animals, test them for heartworms and provide a new fenced area for outdoor play. All these new services have been made possible by grants from Maddie?s Fund, a foundation established by Workday co-founder Dave Duffield and his wife, Cheryl, who endowed the foundation with more than $300 million in 1994. The adoption trailer, with its bright cartoon illustrations around the vehicle, will get its first public test at the Tanner Williams Elementary School Harvest Festival, which will take place on Saturday, November 14, on the school?s grounds. It will start with a parade at 9 a.m. from the Old Tanner Williams Community Park on Old Tanner Williams Road, on the west side of Big Creek Lake, and ending at the school. A dozen or more animals from the shelter will be transported to the festival, with many of them joining in the parade. ?Our shelter employees work hard to continually upgrade services and outcomes at our shelter,? said Mobile County Commissioner Merceria Ludgood. ?These new services will be a great benefit to the community.? Pet overpopulation is a problem nationwide; the average monthly intake for MCAS is 245-250 animals. ?By continuing to look for grants to provide better services, we are able to match an increasing number of abandoned animals with families in our community,? said Mobile County Commissioner Connie Hudson. The MCAS also works with rescue groups locally, state-wide, and out-of-state, to help get the strays adopted. By state law, the Mobile County Animal Shelter must take stray animals in its jurisdiction. ?We appreciate the partnership with Maddie?s Fund,? said Mobile County Commission Chairman Jerry Carl. ?The adoption van increases the exposure of animals to individuals and families that may be interested in adopting. It?s part of the solution to reducing the population of unwanted animals.?