Alabama Animal Advocates

Animal Services in Lauderdale County

Animal services in Lauderdale County, Alabama: How to get help with animal concerns, impoundment facility, animal control, low-cost spay & neuter, dog confinement requirements.
Written by Kristin Yarbrough
With Add’l Analysis by Aubrie Kavanaugh
Updated Oct. 19, 2026

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Animal Control in Lauderdale Co.

Alabama requires local governments to pick up and impound loose dogs. Animal Control Officers (ACOs) also respond to reports related to dogs and cats.

Florence Lauderdale Animal Services
In the City of Florence, report to 256-760-6610
Elsewhere in Lauderdale Co., report to 256-760-5757

Although ACOs may investigate cruelty or address municipal code violations, most Alabama ACOs are civilians who do not have law enforcement authority. The sheriff’s office and local PDs are responsible for the enforcement of cruelty laws.

Lauderdale Co. Animal Services At-a-Glance

Report animal concerns according to the location, as noted below. For more information about animal control and enforcement of animal laws, or if your concern is not being addressed, see this guidance.

Pop. Jurisdiction Pound ACO RAL
93,564 Lauderdale Co. FLAS FLAS § 3-1-5
Report animal concerns in unincorporated Lauderdale Co. — including the communities of Bailey Springs, Center Star, Cloverdale, Elgin, Grassy, Green Hill, Kington, Mars Hill, Oakland, Rhodesville, Smithsonia, Stewartville, Threet, Underwood-Petersville, Wright, and Zip City — to the Lauderdale Co. Sheriff’s Office at 256-760-5757.
254 Anderson FLAS FLAS § 3-1-5
Report animal concerns in Anderson to the Sheriff’s Office at 256-760-5757.
40,184 Florence FLAS FLAS § 4-80
Report animal concerns in Florence to the PD at 256-760-6610. Note that Florence prohibits fixed-point tethering or chaining (§ 4-77).
1,034 Killen FLAS FLAS § 3-1-5
Report animal concerns in Killen to the Sheriff’s Office at 256-760-5757.
727 Lexington FLAS FLAS § 3-1-5
Report animal concerns in Lexington to the Sheriff’s Office at 256-760-5757.
1,286 Rogersville FLAS FLAS § 3-1-5
Report animal concerns in Rogersville to the Sheriff’s Office at 256-760-5757.
584 St. Florian FLAS FLAS § 3-1-5
Report animal concerns in St. Florian to the Sheriff’s Office at 256-760-5757.
178 Waterloo FLAS FLAS § 3-1-5
Report animal concerns in Waterloo to the Sheriff’s Office at 256-760-5757.

[County population figure includes municipalities.]

Dog Confinement is Required in Lauderdale Co.

The applicable law varies by location, as indicated in the right column above. See Dog Confinement Laws in Alabama for more info.

How to get help

Lauderdale Co. Commission adopted Alabama Code § 3-1-5 in 2004 via Resolution.

Countywide Impoundment Facility

If your pet is lost, remember to check not only the local shelter or impoundment facility, but also those in neighboring cities and counties.

Florence Lauderdale Animal Services (FLAS) opened in 2019 after six years of development, “replacing an outdated and cramped shelter built more than 30 years ago,” per WHNT. Cheryl Jones serves as director.

Florence Lauderdale Animal Services
3240 Roberson Road, Florence, AL 35630
256-760-6676
cjones@florenceal.org
Website, Facebook

Budget: The 2025 budget for FLAS was over $1.5 million/year, per WAFF.

Florence Mayor Ron Tyler threatened in June to terminate the MOU with the county if the Commission did not increase funding, WAFF reported. The City of Florence will vote whether to accept the $500k/yr offer or to terminate the MOU. As of Oct. 9, 2026, the Council had not yet scheduled the vote.

Shelter Director Cheryl Jones told WAFF that $250k in additional funding would enable FLAS to “get animals fixed before they leave, which is much more preferred than sending them out to have to come back and get fixed.”

Shelter Board: The FLAS Shelter Board meets every third Friday at 9 a.m. at Muscle Shoals City Hall, per Nathan Rikard. All are invited and encouraged to attend.

Capacity: The facility has a capacity of nearly 400 dogs and cats, according to WHNT, which is substantial for the 94,000 human population served by this shelter. (As a comparison, Huntsville Animal Services’ optimum capacity for dogs is about 75, and that shelter serves about 400,000 people.) Even with its large capacity, photos shared of hallways full of crated animals suggest that FLAS’ capacity is at times exceeded.

Livestock, Too: In addition to dogs, cats, and small companion animals such as rabbits and hamsters, the shelter intakes horses and cattle which can graze on a 16 acre pasture, WHNT reported. In Jan. 2026, when the shelter was housing over a dozen pigs and piglets and in need of more barn capacity, Friends of Florence Lauderdale Animal Services raised $475 to construct a separate enclosure.

Veterinary Clinic Planned: An on-site veterinary clinic has been years in the making, according to an Oct. 2025 WHNT article and TV segment. The clinic had recently been awarded non-profit status. Florence Councilmember Chapel King told WHNT that fundraising was underway to secure a building nearby at which to estabish the clinic. FLAS intends to utilize the clinic for intake vetting, sterilization, and vaccination, according to July 2025 reporting by Aria Pons for WAFF.

Florence Lauderdale Animal Census

FLAS CENSUS 2025 YTD'26
Total Intake 5,260 3,201
Stray Intake from the Public 2,807 1,884
Stray Intake from ACO 260 299
Owner Surrender 2,135 1,140
Other Intake 58 20
Total Outcomes 5,260 3,201
Live Outcomes 3,527 2,503
Adoptions 1,845 1,404
Reclaim by Owner 425 257
Rescue 1,256 842
Non-Live Outcomes 663 431
Euthanasia 534 369
Died/Lost 129 62
Missing Outcomes 1,070 267
Live Release Rate 67.1% 78.2%

Source: Florence Lauderdale Animal Services Animal Census Reports.
YTD'26 = January 1 through August 30, 2026.
Stray = Loose animals brought in by the public, per Cheryl Jones.
AC = Loose animals brought in by Animal Control, per Cheryl Jones.
Live Release Rate = Live Outcomes ÷ Total Outcomes.
Missing Outcomes = FLAS Reports do not account for these animals’ fate. (This number is approximate. We expect Census Reports to show a small difference between intakes and outcomes since a few animals are in the shelter from one year to the next, but a large discrepency indicates an issue with the data.)

Intake in 2025 was 5,260, including the large intakes of 191 Doodles and another 110-animal situation, Jones said on ABC31. Census Reports recorded 2,417 intakes in the first six months of 2026. The breakdown has historically been about that about 60% of animals come from the county and about 40% from the City of Florence, Jones explained. FLAS Stray Hold is 7 days.

Live Release Rate (LRR) or No Kill Status Claims: Florence Councilmember Chapel King has touted a very high percentage of positive outcomes, including her Sept. 14, 2026 statement that that FLAS has a 97% LRR. Our calculations for 2025 and 2026 YTD, shown above, indicate otherwise. Even if the substantial number of missing outcomes (about 267 in 2026 YTD and over 1,000 in 2025) are ignored, FLAS reports indicate a 78% LRR for 2026 YTD and 84.2% for 2025.

Presumably Councilmember King’s claim is based on a screenshot posted to the city website showing a 96.42% “Total Save Rate” in 2021. The numbers shown in the screenshot do not match FLAS’s published Census Reports for 2021 — neither in total nor in the Live Release Rate calculation. FLAS 2021 data does indicate approximately 93% Live Release for 2021, however the rate dips substantially according to FLAS’s Census Reports for 2025 and 2026. (FLAS Census Reports for 2022–2024 are not published at FLAS Statistics nor included on the FLAS Census spreadsheet.)

Adoptions: Our understanding is that FLAS has increased their adoptions; we applaud the shelter staff for this crucial improvement. Per Jordan, older pets are sterilized prior to release; for younger pets, adopters agree to have the animal sterilized and costs are included in the adoption fee (Jordan said some area vets require pets to be 6 months old).

Our Observations about 2025–2026 FLAS Census Reports:

Low-Cost Spay & Neuter in Lauderdale County

Doodle Case

191 Dogs Seized. Why Only 4 Criminal Charges?

See Paws4Change for possible explanations for the low number of charges, what would have constituted a felony offense, consequences of the choice of charging statement, and how Beau’s Law may affect similar cases when the law goes into effect in October.

MAY 11, 2026 — Lauderdale County arrested three people on four misdemeanor animal cruelty charges relating to the two-day seizure of 191 dogs in late March 2026 from their home in the 3000 block of County Road 112 northwest of Florence, Alabama. The owners had already surrendered 74 dogs over the course of the last year, and on approximately Apr. 16 they surrendered (relinquished ownership) of all but five of the 191 dogs that had been seized. The owners had bred and sold the dogs, which have been described as primarily “Doodles.”

Since animal cruelty charges are applied as one charge per affected animal, only four charges stemming from the 191-dog seizure raises major questions for Lauderdale County. If 191 dogs were in such poor condition — since seizure requires exigent circumstances:

  • Why did evidence support only four cruelty charges?
  • Why were defendants charged under the older general cruelty statute rather than the Pet Protection Act, considering that only the Pet Protection Act includes built-in recovery of costs?
  • Does the absence of even misdemeanor charges for 187 of the 191 does suggest an overstepping of the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure?
  • Would a judge order restitution related to 187 dogs for whom there were no charges, or will the cost of care fall on Lauderdale County taxpayers and on the nonprofit organizations lending their assistance? (The Times Daily reported as $42,975 for the first nine days alone. When we asked about this number not being reflected on census records, FLAS Director Cheryl Jones stated that “The Times Daily misunderstood the cost of care taxed to the owners vs the actual additional costs of caring for the animals.”)
  • How many dogs’ lives were ended to make room for sudden intake of 150 dogs at FLAS (plus at least 13 or 14 puppies born post-seizure) and 40 dogs at Colbert County Animal Shelter?
  • How much staff and volunteer effort was diverted to care for dogs that may have been unnecessarily if not improperly seized?
  • What was the rush to seize, at public expense, rather than continuing to work with the owners?
  • Considering the several recent mass animal intakes, does FLAS have a shelter disaster response plan for situations involving large numbers of animals brought to the facility from a breeder (such as in this case), collector, dog fighter, or due to a natural disaster?

While these and other questions remain, Lauderdale County officials are to be commended for bringing criminal charges against the defendants, not only to hold the owners responsible for alleged cruelty but also because only with charges is it possible for a judge to order mental health counseling and a pet possession ban or limitation on the number of animals a person may own, as detailed at Animal Hoarding.

Dog Bites & Attacks in Lauderdale Co.

To have knowledge of a bite or scratch and fail to report it is a crime (§ 3-7A-9). First seek medical attention; then report as soon as possible to:

See Dog Bites & Attacks for more information on reporting, quarantine, criminal charging, and legal implications.

Documents & Sources

Documents

Sources

FLAS Sources:

County Sources:

Municipal Sources:

Do You Have a Correction, Addition, or Comment?

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