CHILTON COUNTY, Ala. (WIAT) – A non-profit claims an Alabama county humane society is neglecting animals.

The Chilton County Trap Neuter Return (TNR) organization is calling out for help, saying there’s a desperate need for change in the community.

“Ignorance is bliss but if we educate these people and open their eyes to what’s really going on,” says Rebecca Medcalf, owner and operator of Chilton County TNR. “Not just saying ‘oh well, we have a humane society, they’re no-kill, it’s all good’, no it’s not all good. It’s not all good.”

The Chilton County TNR nonprofit is an organization that primarily focuses on spaying and neutering feral cats in the area. Medcalf says a lot of work needs to be done to fix the overcrowding problems but it boils down to spaying and neutering.

“We’re not going to adopt ourselves out of this problem,” Medcalf said. “By sending them to another rescue, that’s just a band-aid that’s not a fix.”

The Chilton County Humane Society agrees that fixing the problem starts with people fixing their pets.

“If we want to buy into claims of ‘we need to do more for the animals’, then the community needs to start in their home,” says Chilton County Humane Society board president and county commissioner Jimmie Hardee.

Medcalf says there’s a pattern of neglect at the Chilton County Humane Society and says some animals are not kept in good condition.

“I know the humane society turns people away every day because they don’t have enough help. They don’t have enough financial stability coming from the county,” Medcalf said. “What they do have, if it’s managed correctly or not, I don’t know. But we all have to work together.”

Hardee says animal neglect is a serious accusation but without fact backing it is just that.

“We know we’re going to face opposition, if you want to call it that, but we are here to reunite the community with the shelter and the animals with the community and animals with proper rescue,” Hardee said.

The Chilton County Humane Society says all board meetings are open for the public to attend.