(crickets chirping) The following program is the second of two Discovering Alabama episodes that deal with a very difficult issue, the problem of domestic animal abuse.

So, as with the previous program, a warning, this program contains images and content that may be disturbing to some.

Viewer discretion is advised.

[Narrator] This program is supported by grants from the Solon and Martha Dixon Foundation.

Discovering Alabama is a production of the Alabama Museum of Natural History.

(gentle music) (gentle music) We can judge the heart of a man through his treatment of animals.

Most Alabamians would agree with that sentiment.

Most of us are concerned about the welfare of our animals, taking care to give them proper food, water, shelter, and the love and attention to nurture their wellbeing.

But, sadly, not everyone shares this concern.

Every day in Alabama, there are countless cases of shameful inhumane treatment of animals, torturous, physical abuse, careless neglect, and scores of intentionally abandoned animals.

There's even the criminal gambling activity of dog fighting, a sick and brutal form of abuse perpetrated a sport.

I'm Doug Phillips.

As Discovering Alabama approaches its 40th year of showcasing Alabama's natural beauty, we keep encountering the very ugly reality of domestic animal abuse.

And, it seems many Alabamians remain uninformed about the extent of the problem.

So, in an earlier episode, we decided to give the matter some unvarnished exposure, revealing the horrible prevalence and seriousness of animal abuse and neglect in our state.

Join me today as we revisit this issue and meet more Alabamians who, with caring hearts, are working to improve the treatment and the lives of domestic animals in our state.

(gentle music) This program is about a land unknown to many people, a land that in many ways has maintained its native natural wonders, a place of bountiful backcountry, forests, streams, and wildlife.

More diverse than can be found in much of the inhabited world.

Come along with me as we explore the wild wonders of this land.

Come along as we discover Alabama.

Welcome to Discovering Alabama.

Often the first step in solving a problem is to recognize the problem.

In a previous episode, we spoke with Alabamians who regularly recognize the problem, who confront the problem of animal abuse on a daily basis.

There was a dog standing inside a pin surrounded by rotting carcasses.

We ended up investigating this on our own, trying to bring in law enforcement, and, come to find out, that was the dog catcher's home.

Someone did come out and tell us that there was a pit, a dog fighting pit, actually on the dog catcher's property.

Most of us, many times a year, end up responding to a call or acquiring an animal that's an animal that's been tethered, in which a collar, or a chain, or a cable has grown into the neck to the extent that it has to be surgically removed.

But, imagine that doesn't happen overnight.

Imagine living your life 24/7 having your air cut off.

The most common thing we see is people not feeding their animals properly.

We bring puppies in that have horrible, I call it rickets, it's from poor nutrition, poor living conditions, big dogs living in small kennels, dogs living in filth.

Again, dogs, cats, horses, any animal living in filth, not being fed properly.

Those are the most common things that we see that I work with every day.

We intake anywhere from 150 to 200 a month.

Every day is a different adventure.

We had a litter that came in this morning that one was ran over, hadn't been medically treated, and it is probably gonna lose his leg.

We get 'em with gunshot wounds, we get 'em in all kinds of health issues.

It's...

It pulls at your heartstrings.

It is emotionally exhausting.

In such outright cases of neglect and abuse, yes, there are laws intended to address these, but the application of the laws can be iffy and ineffective.

Probably, the greater issue is, across Alabama, many communities just don't have the means to adequately enforce the laws.

In municipalities, many times it is an animal control officer who is responding who may or may not be a sworn officer of the law with powers of arrest, but may be what we consider to be a civilian officer.

In some areas, anything that has to...

The word animal comes out in a call, it goes straight to animal control, whether they've got got the legal authority to completely resolve the situation or not.

I know a lot of counties that don't have any animal control.

We get calls from neighboring counties all the time about, we don't have animal control, we need some help.

We get multiple calls a day on animal cruelty, animal abandonment, and we have an animal control officer, but nobody prosecutes.

Nobody makes arrest, nobody puts a court case to it.

Without changes, that's not gonna stop.

People just throw 'em out like they're nothing, because they're not prosecuted for it.

Oftentimes, because we're the largest shelter, if a citizen's not getting an answer in a small county in North Alabama or a small county in South Alabama, they will call GBHS.

When we call that small county, they may not even have an animal control officer.

They just may have a deputy that has been given that job additional to his regular job to go out and check on those calls.

They may not have an impoundment full-time employee to even go out and help the officer go to that call.

So, the stress and the pressure on the rural areas to try to help animals, it's hard being in Jefferson County and doing that, I can't...

I can't even express how hard it is and how stressful it would be to be in a county that doesn't have funding and doesn't have staff.

And, to add to these difficulties is the callous business known as puppy mills, widespread and uncontrolled Puppy breeding is exact... Is exactly the same as drug dealing.

It is a high volume, high cash business.

There's no regulation of it.

There's no taxes collected on it.

And, when they finally are busted, the taxpayer, and the shelter, and the impoundment facility in that county pick up the tab for every bit of it.

And, the individual who does it oftentimes doesn't have any accountability whatsoever.

And, they are flooding, flooding our shelters.

Of course, there are many responsible breeders in Alabama who take care of their animals and ensure the future care of their animals' offspring.

And, I hope these folks too can agree.

The problem of puppy mills warrant serious attention.

The legislation missing to protect animals right now, in my opinion, is regulation and inspection of people that are involved in the commercial breeding of dogs.

That is a huge problem.

And, that would go a long way toward protecting dogs in particular.

The plight of our animal friends in Alabama, insufficient legislation, insufficient regulation, inadequate funding, and despite the fact that many in law enforcement and those who deal with animal control care very much about the welfare of our animals.

(dogs barking) Hey, guys.

Well, I think most people equate animal welfare with service that's provided to them by their local animal control or animal shelter.

And, while the state does have a mandate that's unfunded that there be an animal shelter in every county and in every jurisdiction with more than 5,000 people, that mandate has really nothing to do with animal welfare.

It has to do with public safety.

And, even though it has only to do with public safety, still about a third of the state is not in compliance with that.

And, so to predicate all of the expectations about how we're going to respond to animal welfare issues or animal abuse concerns with the shelter or animal control may not be... May not be equitable across the board.

I mean, we have some pockets of the state that have wonderful service available in support of the community and their animals, and we have others that are just black holes of nothingness.

And, every community has to evolve this service, this offering, this organization based on community resources.

And, they differ widely across the state.

Well, we can hope the state's political leadership will eventually find solutions to the troubling plight of our animal friends in Alabama.

Meanwhile, there's one thing you and I can do voluntarily right now, by spaying and neutering our pets.

And, here in fact, there's some good news for Alabama.

There are many nonprofit and volunteer good Samaritans dedicating their time, their lives, to improving the welfare of our animal friends in Alabama Approximately six and a half million animals enter shelters every year.

And, unfortunately about 1.5 million of those dogs and cats are euthanized.

[Doug Phillips] Mark Nelson is the director of the Alabama Spay Neuter Clinic, one of several nonprofit operations in the state designed to provide that service exclusively, in high volume and at low cost.

Right now, we're averaging probably between 65 to 90 patients per day.

We have a standard of care that we follow for performing high volume spay neuter surgery, but it's more efficient, so we're able to do more volume in a single day.

The best way to prevent unwanted litters is spay and neuter.

A big problem with that is what's known as access to care.

Trying to meet everyone from every socioeconomic level in making veterinary care and veterinary medicine affordable to them.

Even at our reduced rates, some people are just not able to afford to have their pet spayed or neutered.

In those cases, we have grant money, we have donations, we do all we possibly can to make sure that people can have their pet spay neutered.

If people understood how big the problem was and how many healthy adoptable loving pets were being euthanized in shelters around the country every year, I think there would be more urgency.

[Doug Phillips] In addition to individual pet owners, low cost spay neuter clinics also provide that service to shelters, that neuter animals as a prerequisite for adoption and to other grassroots groups concerned with overpopulation.

And, now it's kind of pretty much a wait and see type situation.

We may have to back over there and see if he'll go in the trap.

[Doug Phillips] Lisa Folsom volunteers for a so-called trap neuter release group in Alabama attempting to reduce the feral cat population.

People don't realize how many just feral cats there are, because people are not responsible and spay and neuter their pets.

[Doug Phillips] No surprise, while cat colonies can remain self-sufficient for quite a while, all the while continuing to multiply.

So, trapping and neutering is an effective way of limiting the problem and reducing the population pressure on overcrowded shelters.

And, a number of groups concerned about abandoned and neglected cats are coming to the rescue.

I don't believe that people realize that it is an epidemic.

I hear it in their voice.

They're desperate.

They may love these cats.

They really want help.

And, when we help those cats, we are helping people too.

So, we're really not just helping these kitties.

Ultimately, we may be helping a lady, for instance, that's 89 years old who did not spay and neuter her kitties.

And, we went into her home and we have taken about 15, 16 kitties outta her home, and found them homes.

This is a haven.

So, we have cats here that'll never be adopted.

And, the reason why is when we trapped them in a bad situation, they were feral, and we did not wanna put them back out in that position if it was a dangerous area.

[Doug Phillips] Fortunately, there are opportunities to increase the possibility of finding adoptive homes by partnerships, like the one between Kitty Kat Haven and Rescue and Gatos and Beans, Alabama's first cat cafe.

My rescue partner is Kitty Kat Haven and Rescue.

We work really well together at trying to find the right cats to come to Gatos and Beans.

A lot of the cats that come sometimes aren't as social as they are when they leave and that's because of our guests.

They come and they spend time with these cats, and they get seen by people, and it helps Kitty Kat Haven get more cats adopted, because of the exposure of being open to the public and people being able to see all these cats and play with them.

[Doug Phillips] And, to help more adoptable pets find homes, many shelters and humane societies have moved to an open adoption process.

Okay, so this is the adoption process.

Yes.

The application I'm gonna go over... Open adoption basically is the process of making potential adopters feel welcome and appreciated.

In the past, we didn't look for... Ways to turn people away, but the questions were more closed ended, whereas now it's more of a just a communication.

What can we do to make you that best possible pet owner you can be?

And, we try to come up with innovative ideas to get out as many animals as we can to loving homes.

That's our ultimate goal.

[Doug Phillips] And, many organizations have become more proactive in getting adoptable animals out and into their communities by partnering with local pet stores for onsite adoptions, featuring their adoptable pets on their websites, and using Adopt-A-Pet, a national website where animal shelters and rescue groups can share their animals to reach more potential adopters.

Over the time of...

When people think about how they used to adopt a shelter pet, certainly the web was one change, but the biggest change has been Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, social media, because of the share capability.

Even if they...

If we put a really great photo up of the dog or cat and it gets shared two or 300 times, and it can happen, it happens every day, and you come in, and that animal's already adopted, you still have come in and you get to see our other 500 animals, and somebody'll end up adopting.

And, for rural shelters, that's a godsend, because that's a simple, easy way to upload a photo of a dog or a cat for them.

They may not have the resources to set up a webpage, and manage it, and have a webmaster, but they absolutely know how to use Facebook and Instagram.

Hats off to the shelters, rescue groups, and others committed to finding homes for homeless animals.

But, what about the pet owners who are struggling to keep their pets?

And, a lot of the reasons we're discovering a lot of the reasons that people give up their pets is because they're facing some kind of challenge in keeping their pet, whether it's a landlord challenge, whether it's a veterinary issue that there's no funding for, whether the animal...

It's a containment issue, they don't believe they can keep the animal on their property.

It's constantly getting loose.

And, a lot of times, these are things that can be addressed with an intervention program as opposed to let's just take the animal in and spend all our tax dollars taking care of it, and maybe it'll have a good outcome, and maybe it won't.

It's clear that the owner loves the dog, they just cannot, for whatever reason, it may be a life emergency, they can't care for the dog at the time.

They want help.

If you can fix a fence, if you can provide a dog house, if you can help them do something to where they're in compliance and not the focus of a complaint, or they're able to maintain their animal at home, that's a win for everybody.

[Doug Phillips] All these valiant efforts have made a difference, but still the abundance of stray animals in the South remains overwhelming.

Because the overpopulation problem is so severe that we couldn't possibly find good homes for all of the dogs in our immediate area, or even in the South in general (Tammy Tierce talking to other members) [Doug Phillips] And, so Canine Compassion Fund transports dogs to regions of the country where they're actually in demand.

There are several groups in the New England area that adopt dogs or take dogs from the South into their rescue programs.

Maybe 90, 95% of our dogs go there, unbelievably because there's a shortage of dogs there.

These are some happy puppies.

[Doug Phillips] Tuscaloosa's Canine Compassion Fund is not alone in this extended outreach.

Down in Shorter, Alabama, the once popular site for commercial greyhound dog racing is now home to a new medical, rehab, and adoption facility, as well as a transport hub to other regions.

What we'll do here at Big Dog Ranch Alabama is bring these dogs in from Alabama and the surrounding states, spay and neuter them, treat their heart worms, heal their skin conditions, ear infections, fix their broken bones, whatever they need, get them healthy and emotionally ready for a home.

More leadership for animal welfare by our political leaders would be of great benefit.

Public officials respond most readily to public demand.

Public demand requires public awareness.

So, perhaps among our greatest needs is increased public education.

And, in fact, many years ago, Alabama's K-12 requirements did briefly include a program for humane education, but political sabotage by those with an opposing view got it quickly removed.

Nonetheless, there are a number of voluntary programs that continue around the state and touch a surprising number of young lives.

Thank you for working so hard at this reading stuff.

Would you like to pet Libby a little bit?

[Doug Phillips] One program in West Alabama began when Mary Calhoun fostered Libby, who was recovering from starvation and a gunshot wound.

As a retired teacher, I could see that there was something special about this dog, that she could go in and work in schools, and make a change.

The cat will run as fast as he can.

[Doug Phillips] And, so now Libby listens while children practice their reading skills and, in the process, learn a little bit about how animals think and feel, and how to best care for them.

Well, I think education will touch on things like compassion and empathy, by teaching kids to treat animals with kindness.

And, the other thing is to encourage children to read, because readers are thinkers, and if we can get kids to be readers, and we can get them to think about what's going on, maybe we can change the mindset that we have right now.

Okay, sweetie pies, go ahead.

[Doug Phillips] Mary Calhoun is just one example of the many volunteers dedicated to making a difference in the lives of our animal friends.

Rescue groups and shelters depend on these dedicated volunteers and fosterers.

So, fosterers are critical to saving lives in shelters and impoundment facilities, because they provide a place for animals that are too medically fragile to stay in the shelter environment, increase our ability to have space.

They can socialize an animal in a quiet environment and that animal will be much more adoptable.

They are one of the key ways that you save lives.

We would never be able to be where we are or go forward without our volunteer program.

Our volunteers and our fosterers are the most important part of what we have.

(Steve Lamon playing piano) [Doug Phillips] Volunteers like Steve Lamon, a retired school principal.

Been doing it about 10 years.

We got started by fostering dogs.

The lady that was in charge asked me if I'd be interested in driving one of the transports.

And, so about a week later, I was on my way to Chicago with 60 dogs in the back.

I know that all these dogs are...

They came from a less than good situation.

Where they're going, they've got a good home, they've got a place to stay, a safe place to lay their head, and plenty of food and water, and somebody to pat 'em on the head every once in a while.

And, that's all a dog wants.

[Doug Phillips] There are many volunteers and dedicated organizations across our state making a difference, but, as we've seen, they are scattered, many underfunded, and not in the areas for the people who need them most.

We need more of us.

There's not enough rescues out there.

And, when the pandemic hit, a lot of the smaller rescues closed their doors.

They didn't have the funding, they couldn't keep it open, they couldn't feed the animals, they couldn't take care of the vetting.

So, a lot of that put another burden on the ones that stayed open.

Even with the many caring hearts and dedicated volunteers, Alabama yet confronts overwhelming challenges to improving the welfare and humane treatment of our animal friends.

Better laws, better funding, and, good lord, at least a basic program of humane education for the state.

These are greatly needed and would lend credence to the slogan that we are the great state of Alabama.

(gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (bright music) (bright music) (bright music) (bright music) (bright music) (bright music) (bright music) (bright music) [Narrator] Discovering Alabama is produced in partnership with Alabama Public Television.

Discovering Alabama is a production of the Alabama Museum of Natural History.

This program is supported by grants from the Solan and Martha Dixon Foundation.