By Robert Watkins

News Flash! If you are a dog or cat and can choose your birth state, you might want to avoid Alabama — no matter how cutely you wag your tail, shake hands with your paw, or roll over on command.

Alabama has a problem that most people don’t know about.

Our state is third in the nation for the percentage of pets killed in shelters.

Mississippi leads with a kill rate of 18.3% — three times the national average. North Carolina and Alabama follow close behind, both topping 14%.  Nationwide, shelters euthanized over 600,000 animals in 2025.

Less than half of Alabama’s shelters are no-kill facilities, and the ones that are no-kill fill up fast. The overflow goes elsewhere — to shelters where the outcome is far less certain.

These animals did nothing wrong. Their only crime was being born into a world with more pets than people willing to take them in.

Alabama’s Solution Is to Fly Our Pets to Florida

On a cold Saturday morning at 7am, a Birmingham private pilot is loading crates into a small plane he calls “the doodle bug” — roughly the size of a Volkswagen with wings. The pilot and I take up the front two seats. The rest of the space holds more than 20 puppies.

We make this trip multiple times a month, picking up dogs from overcrowded rural shelters and flying them to Enterprise, Alabama. There, other pilots arrive with more dogs. Volunteers give them a bathroom break, some food, and a good deal of affection.

Then a second group of pilots takes them the rest of the way — to southern Florida, where adoption rates are significantly higher.  The dogs find homes and this is a great opportunity for me as a student pilot – we all win.

These are rescue flights organized by a Florida man named Mike Young, whose nonprofit is called Puppy Rescue Flights. Mike coordinates Alabama pilots, Florida pilots, sending shelters, receiving shelters, ground crews, and volunteers. He has personally transported more than 8,000 dogs and coordinated flights for many thousands more.

It is extraordinary work. And it is, as Mike would likely tell you, a Band-Aid.

Math is the Problem

Dogs can reproduce by age two and have two litters per year, averaging six puppies each. Roughly 70,000 cats and dogs are born every day in the United States — compared to about 10,000 humans. The gap between animals born and homes available is not something we can adopt our way out of. Transportation programs like Mike’s save lives, but the numbers keep growing.

The only lasting solution is responsible reproductive control — spaying and neutering.

What We in Birmingham Are Doing about It

Birmingham isn’t just watching this problem from the sidelines. Since 2008, Alabama Spay Neuter — based in Irondale — has performed more than 200,000 spay and neuter surgeries, making them one of the most active low-cost providers in the region.

Cost is a real barrier for many pet owners, particularly in rural areas where the problem is most severe. Alabama Spay Neuter offers surgeries starting at $25 depending on circumstances, “Snip Tickets,” and voucher programs. For pet owners in remote areas, transportation by air-conditioned truck is available for $10.

Part of what makes that pricing possible is support from the Remy Fund for pets and animal services, at the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham.  The Remy Fund provides grants to nonprofits in the five-county metro area that improve the lives of companion animals.

Birmingham area philanthropist Ken Jackson has donated over a million dollars to the fund and to other animal welfare causes, with a particular focus on spay and neuter programs, which he considers the greatest return on investment in reducing pet overpopulation.

What You Can Do

If you have room in your home for a four-legged addition, please adopt from a shelter. There is no shortage of animals that need you.

And once you have a pet — spay or neuter. Your vet can help, low-cost options exist, and the difference it makes ripples far beyond your own household.

Birmingham has pilots loading puppies on airplanes before sunrise. We have surgeons fixing the problem at the source. We have donors and nonprofits building the infrastructure to make responsible pet ownership affordable.

All of that matters.

And all of it is more effective when more of us do our part.

Robert (Bob) Watkins has kept the lights on for several decades by making computer software, has decided that driving around in the sky with dogs is nearly as much fun and deserves some attention. 

David Sher is the founder and publisher of ComebackTown.  He’s past Chairman of the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce (BBA), Operation New Birmingham (REV Birmingham), and the City Action Partnership (CAP).

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Invite David to speak for free to your group about how we can have a more prosperous metro Birmingham. dsher@comebacktown.com