Animal Control Is a Calhoun County Quality-of-Life Issue

In Calhoun County's District 1, the stray and neglected animal crisis is not a side issue. It is a daily quality-of-life issue, a public safety issue, and a warning sign that the system is under real strain.

I have spoken with residents who are afraid to walk outside, afraid to let their children play in the yard, and frustrated by the same loose dogs showing up again and again in their neighborhoods. At the same time, this issue is not just about fear and frustration. These animals matter too. Many of these dogs and cats are not “the problem” in the moral sense. They are often the visible result of neglect, abandonment, unchecked breeding, and a system that is being asked to do too much with too little. If we care about safe neighborhoods, we also have to care about humane outcomes.

SOURCE: 2015 - 2025 Anniston Police Department Annual Reports

That concern is real across District 1. In an April 2026 survey of District 1 residents, 44% said stray animals were their number one concern. That was the single largest share among major issues including blight, public safety, and litter. In other words, this is not a niche complaint. It is one of the clearest concerns residents are raising right now.

The trend line in Anniston’s own data is hard to ignore. Based on publicly accessible Anniston Police Department annual reports, the city recorded 1,244 animal-problem calls in 2021. In 2022, that number jumped to 1,816. By 2023, officers handled 2,865 animal complaints. That means the total more than doubled from 2021 to 2023, a roughly 130% increase. The number stayed extremely high after that, with 2,594 animal-control calls in 2024 and 2,226 in 2025. Put plainly: this was not a fluke. It was a surge, and the surge has remained elevated.      

Another way to understand the strain is by looking at the day-to-day workload. From 2015 through 2022, animal-control demand averaged roughly 2 to 3 calls per day. From 2023 through 2025, that rose to roughly 6 to 8 calls per day. That kind of jump changes how a city feels. It also changes how a department operates. Animal control stops being an occasional nuisance call and becomes a constant drain on time, staffing, and public attention.

And this problem is not spread evenly across the map. District 1 communities are carrying much of the burden. The heaviest concentrations of animal-control calls are in the very communities many of us already know are under the greatest pressure:

• Hobson City / Pelham Heights / Thankful — 545

• West Anniston / West End / Cobb Town — 458

• Lenlock / Blue Mountain / McClellan — 450

• Central / Downtown Anniston / Tyler Hill — 409

• Rocky Hollow / upper west-side edge — 239

District 1 is primarily made up of Western, South-Central, and Northern Anniston. Central and West Anniston alone account for roughly 54% of all animal-control calls, or about 1,400+ per year based on this analysis. That means the issue is not abstract here. It is concentrated, visible, and deeply personal.

The 2023 annual report gives even more context. Anniston reported impounding 316 stray animals that year and catching and releasing 14 wild animals. The same report noted that while police-jurisdiction calls made up only 28% of total calls, they accounted for 45% of all animal-related calls. That is a big clue. It suggests the problem is not evenly distributed throughout the broader service area. It is hitting hardest where city limits, jurisdictional edges, neighborhood transitions, and lower-density pockets meet. District 1 includes many of those exact kinds of places.    

This is also why the issue cannot be dismissed as just an “animal nuisance.” In 2021, Anniston logged 35,238 other calls for service, and animal problems were still one of the few call types to exceed 1,000. In 2022, the department responded to 38,532 calls for service, and animal problems again ranked among the top categories, this time at 1,816. That means loose-dog calls, bite complaints, neglected-animal investigations, abandoned litters, and repeat neighborhood complaints are all competing with crime response, traffic enforcement, investigations, and every other demand already placed on public safety personnel.  

When communities keep seeing loose dogs, neglected animals, repeated complaints, and slow resolution, that usually means pressure is building in several parts of the system at once. Field response is under stress. Intake is under stress. Shelter capacity is under stress. Rescue placement is under stress. Enforcement is under stress. And the staff who are trying to hold that system together are under stress too.

That is why I believe this has to become a far bigger priority.

If we do not invest more heavily for a few years, the problem will keep getting harder to solve. The math is cruel. The more animals there are on the ground, the more they reproduce. The more they reproduce, the more puppies and kittens are born into neglect, abandonment, or life on the street. Delay is not neutral here. Delay makes the problem bigger.

That is especially true with cats. Stray and feral cats present an even more acute challenge because they cannot simply be handled the same way dogs are. They are harder to catch, harder to place, and there is no equivalent shelter model that easily absorbs the need at scale. Any serious response has to include a stronger public conversation around cat overpopulation, trap-neuter-return strategies where appropriate, and partnerships that can help reduce breeding before colonies grow beyond control.

So where do we start?

First, we start by treating this as the major issue it is. Not a side note. Not an afterthought. A real county concern affecting everyday life in District 1.

Second, we support and empower the people already doing the work. Calhoun County Animal Control staff and the Calhoun County Humane Society are working under pressure, and the Humane Society has limited resources, not an endless-capacity solution. They deserve support, planning, and reinforcements, not finger-pointing.  

Third, we build partnerships instead of pretending one office can solve this alone. District 1 overlaps with municipal boundaries and shared service areas, which means this issue calls for working agreements, joint committees, and coordinated action between county government, surrounding municipalities, animal-control agencies, rescues, and community organizations. We should be sitting at the table with every serious group willing to help and building a plan that matches the scale of the problem.

Fourth, we put more boots on the ground and focus on prevention, not just response. That means stronger pickup capacity, better follow-up on repeat problem areas, more support for spay and neuter efforts, more coordination with rescue partners, and smarter intervention where neglect and uncontrolled breeding are driving repeat calls.

Because at the end of the day, this issue is about both people and animals.

Residents deserve to feel safe walking outside, checking the mail, or letting their children play in the yard. Neighborhoods deserve relief from repeated roaming, barking, property damage, and fear. And these animals deserve more than neglect, hunger, injury, and abandonment.

District 1 cannot afford to keep treating this like background noise. The data says it is real. The residents say it is real. The officers and animal-control staff living it every day know it is real.

Now the response has to become real too.