Alton Animal Control Asks Community to Help Dogs Avoid Euthanasia

ALTON - Alton Animal Control is experiencing a “Code Red,” meaning four of their dogs are at risk of euthanasia unless they can be adopted by Monday, March 16, 2026.

Drew Marquis, an animal control officer, explained that they have four dogs who are past the stray hold period, which means they have been in animal control custody for seven days and now must either be adopted or euthanized. The animal control facility has 14 kennels available, and 12 of them are currently full. They need to find adopters or placements for these dogs at local humane societies or rescues.

“Every kennel counts,” Marquis said. “When we are completely full, we can't take animals off the street anymore, and it kind of puts the public in jeopardy. So a Code Red is the thing we do, just letting the humane societies in the area know that we are in critical need of some placement for our animals.”

The four dogs — Tinker, sisters Yin and Yang, and Titan — are described as friendly and playful.

Marquis noted that Alton Animal Control works with any humane society that is a 501c3, and they often send dogs across the state or even into Wisconsin, Missouri and Indiana so they can be placed in these humane societies and adopted.

He shared that the last few months have been critical as the facility has been “completely full” more than once. He believes this is partly because Madison County Animal Control has become a no-kill facility, which puts “a lot of stress” on smaller municipalities, especially those that don’t have holding facilities.

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Alton and Granite City Animal Control are the only local cities that have holding facilities, and Alton Animal Control is the largest with 14 kennels. There simply isn’t enough space to house all the dogs that come in.

Marquis emphasized that the animal control facility didn’t fail these dogs, and the dogs aren’t to blame at all. Their owners are the ones who let them down.

“We don’t necessarily deal with the best pet owners,” he said. “Although we do deal with a lot of really good people, we don't see the best situations for these animals.”

Some people drive across the river to dump their animals in Alton. There are also a lot of strays in town.

Marquis noted that the best thing to do as a pet owner is to spay and neuter your animals. He pointed out that some humane societies have free or low-cost spay/neuter programs.

He added that “the animal welfare community is just at critical mass,” with many humane societies also overwhelmed. He encourages people to support local humane societies and animal welfare groups with donations.

Alton Animal Control will work hard to place these four dogs with humane societies, but they can’t guarantee they will find spots for them. Anyone who wants to know more about adopting one of these dogs can visit the official Alton, IL Animal Care and Control Facebook page.

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