July 1 has come and gone, but the Humane Society of Hall County and Hall County Animal Control have yet to go their separate ways.

The two entities currently work together but Hall County planned to be running its own shelter by the beginning of this month. The Humane Society had plans to be operating as a selective admission shelter.

But rain got in the way.

The rainy spring was good for Lake Lanier but delayed the construction of Hall County’s new animal shelter.

“We had a lot of wet weather that affected the pouring of the concrete,” said Hall County Public Safety Director Marty Nix, who runs the umbrella department over Animal Control. “That just killed us.”

Nix estimates Animal Control could have the shelter up and running by September.

Despite the delays in construction, the two organizations have had a good working relationship since the decision was made last August to separate, Nix said.

“They’re cooperating and it’s a good partnership,” Nix said.

Once complete, the new shelter will finalize the split between the Humane Society and Animal Control.

Previously, the Humane Society had a contract with the county to accept into its shelter any animal brought in by Animal Control.

The society got a fee from the county for each animal taken in.

Now, Animal Control will continue to perform the same functions but will take animals to its own facility.

Animal Control Director Mike Ledford said the new animal shelter will be much more than just a pound.

“We want to be as far from that old stigma as possible,” Ledford said. “We’re going to offer as many services as we have the facility to offer. Our focus is to be a full-service shelter.”

Ledford said once the shelter opens, he will plan adoption events, educational programs and volunteer opportunities at the shelter.

“We want to adopt out as many animals as we can,” Nix said.

Rick Aiken, president of the Humane Society of Hall County said though unavoidable, the county’s delays have slowed the Humane Society’s plans.

“It has been somewhat of a hardship because we haven’t been able to do some of the renovations we want to do and some of the changes we want to make,” Aiken said. “But our goal is to work with the county and with Animal Control and make sure it’s a smooth transition and make this as easy as possible for them.”

Aiken said the Humane Society is looking to bring in a dog trainer and increase educational programs.

“We’re excited about it. We can see that light at the end of the tunnel,” Aiken said.

One of the Humane Society’s main goals is expanding its spay and neuter program.

“We cannot do that until we have the space that we need,” Aiken said. “The spay/neuter program is such a key asset in reducing the number of animals coming to us and them.”

Aiken said euthanasia and adoption will never solve the problem of pet overpopulation; there are simply too many animals and not enough homes.

Thousands of animals have to be put down each year.

“It’s not because they’re old. It’s not because they’re sick. It’s not because they’re mean. It’s because there’s too many of them,” Aiken said.

Once Hall County’s animal shelter is complete, the Humane Society will begin accepting only animals considered adoptable, such as pets that have to be surrendered by owners, and will no longer euthanize animals due to lack of space.

“Unfortunately, Animal Control will take over that,” Aiken said.

Other counties, including Fulton and Forsyth, also have two animal shelters.

Forsyth County operates an animal shelter while the Humane Society of Forsyth County describes itself as a “no-kill shelter,” similar to how the Humane Society in Hall will soon operate.

Annette Orr, the director of the Forsyth County Animal Shelter, said she thinks the two facilities have separate purposes but share similar goals.

“They’re different type groups, they’re different in a lot of ways,” Orr said.

While both shelters promote adoption, animal control takes sole responsibility for dangerous animals.

“The shelter here is more or less a jail for vicious animals and a rabies quarantine,” Orr said. “There’s a lot of things that they (the Humane Society) don’t necessarily deal with. Their primary goal is retraining dogs and relocating. And it’s not that ours isn’t; we do relocate a lot, but we also have different responsibilities in keeping animals out of the general public that are going to injure someone.”

Orr said both groups have animal welfare in mind.

“Instead of emphasis being on the different groups, there needs to be some laws governing keeping pets sterilized and tagged,” Orr said. “It needs to be laws that are going to be good for the pets and the people.”

Gainesville veterinarian John Sundstrom said though he was initially opposed to the split, he thinks Hall County may be able to make it a positive move.

“I think it may be an opportunity for Hall County to be a standard-bearer,” Sundstrom said. “I hope we end up with two good facilities caring for our animals.”