AACA is a state organization made up of administrators and animal control officers from across Alabama.  The awards were for “Support Staff of the Year” and “Administrator of the Year.” The awards were presented during the AACA and Alabama Humane Federation luncheon during the AACA annual conference held last week in Orange Beach, Alabama. Please see below for details on the award nominations and presentations.

Support Staff of the Year:

 The Haven for Animals staff

 I would like to nominate the staff of the Haven for Animals as Support Staff of the Year. The Haven for Animals is a small adoption guarantee shelter located in Fairhope, Alabama. The dedicated staff cares for the dogs and cats taken in from the public, but also they care for dogs and cats taken in from the four animal control agencies in Baldwin County. Being an adoption guarantee organization, they have committed to finding homes for every animal in their care, with euthanasia reserved for animals that are a danger to the public, or too badly injured or diseased to be rehabilitated. This means that the staff must be innovative and creative in their marketing skills because it takes more effort to adopt the old and the unglies than it does to place the cute and the cuddlies! And they are doing an exceptional job for finding these hard to place animals a new home.

 The staff of the Haven for Animals go the extra mile. They help organize and assist with the large cadre of volunteers, they medicate and groom the animals, they work on ideas to help adopt pets into new homes, they clean and feed and care for the pets in the shelter, and they work with the animal control agencies and the large network of foster homes.

 The staff of the Haven for Animals go the extra mile and deserve the recognition of the AHF and AACA for their hard work and determination.

Administrator of the Year:

 Michael Graham, Executive Director, The Haven for Animals:

 Mike Graham has taken the over reigns as lead agency in Maddie's Pet Rescue Project in Baldwin County and has increased adoptions and has taken in many animals from the four animal control agencies, Because of his dedication to the Maddie's Project, there was no euthanasia of healthy dogs and cats in all the animal control agencies in the months of February and March 2009.

 Mike has shown that he is a true leader, bring all of the shelters together to work together to save lives. Hampered with a small but dedicated staff, Mike has taken the bull by the horns, so to speak, and has built bridges, implemented strategies and moved the programs forward to save lives. This has resulted in an increase in animal intakes of 124% at the Haven, and an increase in adoptions of 62% over the baseline of 2004. Healthy euthanasia in the animal control agencies has also dropped compared to baseline by 34%.

 Mike's dedication to helping reduce euthanasia and increase adoptions in Baldwin County has resulted in a 43% Live Release Rate of dogs and cats in all shelters in Baldwin County, which is one of the highest Live Release Rates in Alabama.