Animal Services in Bibb County

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Impoundment Facilities or Shelters in Bibb County

Bibb County Rabies Impoundment Facility is structured under Bibb County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) and is operated by Bibb County Commission.

Leadership: County Administrator Brian Davis has supervised the facility since the former director’s Mar. 9, 2026 resignation. Initially, the county sought a third-party operator; on May 26, 2026, Brian said he will continue to supervise the facility directly and that the county is not currently hiring nor seeking bids for BCRIF operation.

Staff: BCRIF has a staff of two: Landon and Heather. Heather joined the staff in May 2026 and has been doing a great job at the shelter, according to both County Administrator Brian Davis and local advocates. See Kate Bonny’s update with this and other news.

Facility: The facility includes an uninsulated metal building with a cat room and dog kennels, with a capacity for about 40 dogs. There are also fenced pens outside. Heat is used only to prevent pipes from freezing in extreme weather. There is no AC; large fans are utilized to circulate air. For a glimpse into the facility, see the 28-minute mark of this video.

Shelter Animal Census: Bibb County Administrator Brian Davis coordinated a same-day answer to our Sept. 2, 2025, request for impoundment facility data, however the data was provided cumulatively for the YTD rather than monthly and much of the information that is required by the Animal Census Reporting Act was missing. When we requested monthly data on Sept. 12, then-director Kirk Smith provided an Excel document that was more informative but still missing intake sources and among other data. In reply to Kirk, we suggested that perhaps the next month’s data be broken down into separate numbers for owner surrenders and for strays as per the Act. See Documents for the information that has been provided thus far.

Local Advocacy Leads to Improvements at Pound

EMA Director Kirk Smith had managed BCRIF for 15 years until Smith’s Mar. 9, 2026 resignation from BCRIF “out of concern for the safety and well-being of his family,” according to a Mar. 10 Facebook post which also stated that Bibb County Administrator Brian Davis is now supervising day-to-day operations.

Smith turned in his resignation following calls for accountability for the treatment of volunteers and animals at BCRIF. At the Feb. 9, 2026 Bibb County Commission meeting, public comments were made by BCRIF volunteers:

• Tammy Davis
• Blanche Wallace
• Anonymous

Click each name to read their statement, shared here with permission. Frustrations were also aired in a volunteer’s video, “This Bibb County Alabama Animal Control Situation Will Make You Angry” and the CBS42 report “Concerns raised after photos, videos limited at Bibb County Rabies Impoundment Facility.”

New Policies: Some of the concerns stemmed from new BCRIF policies which were distributed starting Feb. 23, 2026:

• BCRIF Volunteer Rules and Guidelines
• BCRIF Standard Rules and Procedures for Approved Rescue Organizations

Threatening or suspending volunteers who speak about conditions at public facilities (which was done when the facility was under Smith’s direction) or prohibiting photography in public areas (as per the new Volunteer Rules) are limitations of free speech, as detailed in Section 1983 to the Rescue (click on the image to view the PDF) by the No Kill Advocacy Center. On Mar. 20, a volunteer said that BCRIF was allowing photographs in outdoor areas when supervised by a staff member.

Upon Smith’s resignation, Bibb County Commission initially sought a nonprofit organization to manage the impoundment facility. County Administrator Brian Davis referred to an RFP but declined to provide it, and to our knowledge no RFP was ever posted to the Bibb County Request for Proposals page. On May 26, 2026, Brian said he continued to supervise operations at the facility and the county was not currently seeking to hire anyone nor to contract with a third party for the operation of the facility.

At the June 8 Commission meeting, BCRIF was formally moved out of the EMA department to be structured directly under the Bibb County Commission and supervised by County Administrator Brian Davis.

Animal Control in Bibb County

Animal Control in Unincorporated Areas of Bibb County: Contact Bibb County Rabies Impoundment Facility or call Bibb County Dispatch at 205-926-3129.

Kirk Smith, then-director of BCRIF, said that he has one full time impounding officer (to whom he also referred as an ACO) and a “floater” who has dual employment with the county: in addition to another position in the county government, the floater cleans the impoundment facility and assists with impoundment when the ACO is overwhelmed. ACOs do respond to calls and pick up strays, Kirk said. Both ACOs work directly for the county and are not deputized officers. The shelter has a microchip scanner and does scan impounded dogs upon arrival, he said. Cruelty investigation in Bibb County (and in all other areas in which ACOs are not deputized) is in collaboration with local law enforcement.

Animal Control Within Corporate Limits & Police Jurisdiction:

• Animal control in Brent, Centreville, West Blocton, and Woodstock is handled through Bibb County.
• If you have an animal concern within town limits of Vance, call the police department, town hall, or the sheriff's office for the location, whether Bibb or Tuscaloosa. (Also see Animal Services in Tuscaloosa County.)

If your ACO is unable to help or if your area has no animal services, see this guidance.

Dog Confinement Requirements in Bibb County

County Adoption of Alabama’s Dog Confinement Statute: Dog confinement is not required in unincorporated Bibb County because the Commission has not adopted Alabama Code § 3-1-5, according to Kim Holladay and Chase. There are still steps you can take to address issues or to encourage the county to require confinement.

Kirk Smith, pound director, said that “we’ve thought about it [adopting § 3-1-5] a couple times, but [did not due to] the feedback from the residents.” He said that many residents have hunting dogs, and though Kirk said he was aware of the exemption for hunting dogs, he didn’t think residents understood that the requirement would not apply while hunting.

Dog Confinement Requirements Within Corporate Limits & Police Jurisdiction:

• Dog confinement is not required in Brent or Woodstock.
• Dog confinement is required by ordinance in Centreville and West Blocton.
• Vance does not require confinement by ordinance, so there is no requirement at Vance addresses in Bibb County. Dog owners at Tuscaloosa County addresses are required to confine their dogs because the Tuscaloosa County Commission adopted Alabama Code § 3-1-5.

How to Report: See How to Report an At-Large Violation.

Low-Cost Spay & Neuter in Bibb County

Alabama Spay & Neuter, the area’s non-profit sterilization clinic, offers low prices and pet transportation from Bibb County approximately once a month — call early to reserve your pet’s spot. Bibb County Pet Welfare (Facebook) offers a Snip-It Ticket to discount the price: text 205-410-1003.

For additional low-cost sterilization options, see Low-Cost Spay & Neuter in Alabama and Low-Cost Spay & Neuter in Jefferson County.

Bibb County Documents

• Animal Census Data: Bibb County Rabies Impoundment Facility cumulative data (PDF) or monthly data (Excel) for Jan–Aug 2025.
• Bibb County Public Records Request Form: We are not aware of a form. Either the county does not have their own request form or does not require its use. We requested according to the Open Records Act template.

Sources

Bibb County Commission, 205-926-3114:

• Brian Davis, Bibb County Administrator, x1, BDavis@Bibbal.com, spoke to Aubrie Kavanaugh on April 24, 2025, regarding animal control and the impoundment facility. [Brian had reported that Bibb County Sheriff’s Office employs five ACOs; we believe this is inaccurate and have updated above with information from Kirk Smith.] Brian responded the same day to a Sept. 2, 2025, request for impoundment facility data. Brian shared information with Kristin Yarbrough on May 26 and June 4 regarding the leadership of the facility and improvements being made.
• Kirk Smith, Director of Bibb County EMA and former director of Bibb County Rabies Impoundment Facility, bcema@bibbal.com, 205-925-0092, conversed with Kristin Yarbrough via email several times in Sept. 2025 and via telephone on Sept. 12, 2025.
• Kim Holladay, Deputy Administrator, x2. Kristin spoke with Kim on Apr. 1, 2025, regarding the dog confinement statute.
• Chase, Bibb County Rabies Impoundment Facility. Kristin spoke with Chase on Apr. 1, 2025, regarding the dog confinement statute.

Municipalities:

• Brent: Laura, water department, provided information on an Oct. 17, 2025 phone call.
• Centreville: The city’s Animal Control webpage states that AC is handled by Bibb County, and that pets must be confined to the owner's premises or leashed if off-premises, as required by a 2012 animal control ordinance (the ordinance is linked from the Animal Control page, but the PDF is missing as of this Oct. 2025 writing).
• Vance: Shelby Yancey provided animal control information on an Oct. 17, 2025 phone call.
• West Blocton: Jericha provided information on an Oct. 17, 2025 phone call.
• Woodstock: Tiffney McCulley, town clerk, provided information on Oct. 20, 2025.

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