Alabama Animal Advocates

Animal Services in Walker County

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Graphic with image of dog and text: animal services in Walker County, Alabama. How to get help with animal concerns, impoundment facility, animal control, low-cost spay & neuter, dog confinement requirements.

Impoundment Facilities or Shelters in Walker County

GBHS Walker County Animal Services (WCAS)
23470 US-78, Jasper, AL 35501
205-754-4143
GBHS, Lost & Found Pet Photos

Erica Shubert manages GBHS Walker County. The facility serves the unincorporated area of Walker County only.

Intake is 150-250 animals per month, Shubert stated in June 2026. These animals are primarily stray dogs brought in by residents, Emma told us, which are accepted on an open intake basis with no fee. Stray cats and kittens are accepted on a managed basis at Walker County, but may be accepted at Jasper without delay even if the animal was found outside of the City of Jasper.

GBHS advises residents “not to attempt capturing stray dogs themselves, to call local or county animal control immediately.” However, animal control assistance appears to be unavailable in the unincorporated area of Walker County. Emma said residents bring stray dogs to WCAS “all day long.”

Greater Birmingham Humane Society (GBHS) operates Walker County Animal Services under a 36-month Agreement with Walker County Commission which was approved in October 2023 and began Dec. 1, 2023. The Daily Mountain Eagle and CBS42 reported on reopening of Walker County Animal Services under GBHS.

Ed Howell reported that GBHS was the only bidder and that the bid was for compensation to GBHS of $205,440 per year, based on an 1,200 annual intake. The Commission budgeted $163,000 for WCAS in FY2024 and $100,000 in FY2021-2022, Howell wrote.

We do not know what compensation GBHS has received from the Commission. Since GBHS Walker County is now taking in 150–250 animals per month, per Shubert, compensation has likely increased in turn.

Before contracting with GBHS, the Commission operated the facility directly, under the name Walker County Humane and Adoption Center.

GBHS Jasper Animal Care & Control
2302 Birmingham Ave, Jasper, AL 35501
205-221-6621
Facebook, City Website, Lost & Found Pet Photos

The City of Jasper contracts with Greater Birmingham Humane Society (GBHS) for the operation of GBHS Jasper Animal Care & Control. The arrangement began in 2018, according to the city website, three years after GBHS became the animal services contractor for Jefferson County. Lindsey Cross directs GBHS Jasper Animal Care & Control.

As of February 2026, the City of Jasper was in the process of purchasing a property across the street from the current facility to be used as a new shelter, Nicole Smith reported in the Daily Mountain Eagle.

Animal Control — Picking Up Stray Dogs

Walker County Commission is required by Alabama Code § 3-7A-7 to protect public safety by picking up stray dogs. County officials instruct residents to report — but what happens when a report is called in?

  What They’ve Said
About Stray Dogs		 When a Resident
Reports a Stray Dog
Walker County
Commission		 “Any animal attack is a serious situation," Chairman Steve Miller stated. "And, we certainly want to keep all of our citizens as safe as possible and do everything that we can.” “We do not have an animal control officer."
"The position would likely be provided through GBHS, but the County Commission would need to approve and fund it.”
Sheriff’s
Office		 “Stray dogs roaming freely, often in packs, is a big problem in the county,” a deputy said. “They do not pick up stray animals and never have.”
GBHS “GBHS urges the public to report stray animals to authorities.” “Confirmed that they do not have a crew to pick up strays.”

With no one picking up animals and residents being told “not to attempt capturing stray dogs,” where are the reported 150–250 animals taken in per month coming from? And what would explain the 50–150 additional intakes per month since GBHS took over shelter operations, if stray dogs are not being picked up? Census data could shed light on this, but GBHS has not complied with Alabama’s Animal Census Reporting Act and Open Records Act requirement to provide animal intake and outcome data.

The Agreement between Walker County, Alabama and Greater Birmingham Humane Society (GBHS) states that 'the services to be performed include, but are not limited to, the capture and detention of stray dogs and other animals in designated areas within Walker County.'
The Agreement between Walker County and Greater Birmingham Humane Society (GBHS) states that “the services to be performed include, but are not limited to, the capture and detention of stray dogs and other animals in designated areas within Walker County.”

How to report an animal control concern in Walker County:

If assistance is not offered or if the situation is not resolved, see this guidance.

Animal Cruelty Investigation in Walker County

Deputy Justin Greenspan of Walker County Sheriff’s Office serves as cruelty and welfare investigator. GBHS staff members may also be appointed as agents for the investigation of animal cruelty, under a Walker County resolution dated Sept. 15, 2025. If you have witnessed or have information about animal abuse or neglect, call Walker County Sheriff’s Office at 205-302-6464 or fill out their webform.

If the incident or situation is in municipal Jasper, you might first or also contact ACO Robin Jackson.

Dog Confinement Requirements in Walker County

Running at Large Prohibited in Walker County

Because Walker County Commission has adopted Alabama Code § 3-1-5 and the City of Jasper has its own dog confinement ordinance, owners in all of Walker County are required to confine dogs to their own premises. If your neighbor is allowing his dog to roam, you can report the violation.

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

  • In the City of Jasper, report a § 4-45 violation to Jasper Police Department at 205-221-6790. Requirements of the ordinance are stricter than the statute.
  • In unincorporated Walker County, report to Walker County Sheriff’s Office at 205-302-6464. “County Attorney Charles Stephens Jr. said once the Sheriff’s Office brings the charges, the case would go through the District Court system as a misdemeanor,” Ed Howell reported.
  • In municipal Carbon Hill, Corova, Dora, Eldridge, Kansas, Nauvoo, Oakman, Parrish, Sipsey, or Sumiton, report to your local police or to Walker County Sheriff’s Office.

Why Did Walker County Adopt Alabama Code § 3-1-5? The statute was adopted due to “numerous reports of dogs running at large” which pose “a serious danger to the health, safety, and welfare of the citizens of Walker County,” according to the Resolution. Just as in Lawrence County in 2024, where a mauling by owned dogs is what led to the statute’s adoption, Walker County Commission adopted following a July 2025 mauling in Jasper.

Low-Cost Spay & Neuter in Walker County

Walker County Documents

Public Records Request Forms:

Sources

Greater Birmingham Humane Society (GBHS) is the contracted operator of Walker County Animal Services and Jasper Animal Care & Control Shelter. Multiple attempts to obtain public information from GBHS have gone unanswered. A September 2025 request for clarification about “designated areas” and impoundment of loose dogs in Walker County was referred twice from one GBHS staff member to another, as detailed in Sources, and remains unanswered. A request for 2025 Animal Census reports for both impoundment facilities has also gone unfulfilled. Other contacts:

Walker County has stood out in my experience as among the most opaque governments in Alabama.Walker County Administrator Amy Frederickson is the only official who handles Walker County public records requests and other inquiries, according to Barbara and Billie Jo at the Commission office. Amy told the Walker County Leader that she “is committed to transparency,” but I did not receive a response to a public records request submitted August 6, 2025 nor to follow-ups in August and September 2025. Walker County Commission defaulted on the acknowledgement and fulfillment deadlines of the Open Records Act. There was never an answer at Amy’s extension, her voicemail box was perpetually full, and emails received no reply. Day after day, Barbara and Billie Jo took a message for Amy or told me to call back.

A week after the deadline had passed, I emailed the two Commissioners (Jeff Burrough and John Dunagan) for whom the Walker County website provides contact information and also left a message for County Attorney Charles Stephens. Commissioner Jeff Burrough called me that day from Amy’s office. Jeff said that fulfillment of the public records request fell “on top of [Amy’s] normal duties,” which seems inconsistent with the Legislative Services Agency’s statement in Alabama’s Handbook for County Commissions (pages 29 and 122) that making public records available upon request is a legal duty of county commissions. The Commission uploaded the requested document to Walker County Forms & Docs; Commissioner Burrough advised download the PDF right away because it would be removed, and indeed the Commission removed the record in Oct. 2025.

Other Sources:

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