Greene County Animal Control’s new additional facility on Hal Henard Road, which used to house the Greeneville-Greene County Humane Society, is now housing animals. Animal Control Director Chris Cutshall told the County Animal Control Committee on Thursday that the facility gives the local agency more space, and allows animals to be held for longer periods of time.
The Humane Society moved out the building and into a new facility on North Rufe Taylor Road in early 2023, and the organization’s former building on Hal Henard Road reverted back to the ownership of Greene County. The county provided the land for the construction of the shelter in the 1980s. Now, the old shelter is once again housing animals in conjunction with Animal Control’s main facility located at 950 Hal Henard Road. The two properties are located next to each other.
Improvements have been made to the former Humane Society building by Animal Control including the installation of a new roof, the resurfacing of floors and the construction of a new barn to house animals such as cows, horses, donkey or goats. A new radio system is also on order so that the additional facility will have the same communication abilities as the main Animal Control facility.
Cutshall noted the building opened for operations at the beginning of January. The facility roughly doubles the capacity of Animal Control.
“The new building is operational. It has been open since the first of the year. We’re housing about half capacity up there right now, and that’s probably where we’ll leave it for right now,” Cutshall said.
He said Animal Control wanted to keep space in case the agency comes into a large amount of animals at once, which can happen from time to time. Recently, 85 roosters took up all available space at Animal Control after a cockfighting bust. He noted that when Animal Control becomes full, it has to make difficult decisions about euthanizing adoptable animals.
Animals that come under the care of Animal Control are held for at least three days in accordance with state law. The additional facility will be used to house animals for an additional five days when possible, for a total holding period of eight days. Animal Control works with the Humane Society and local rescues in an effort to provide adoptable animals with homes.
Cutshall said that Animal Control would maintain the additional facility as long as it had the manpower to do so. Currently, one clerical employee maintains the additional facility and the animals within it. In order to staff the facility, Animal Control had to reduce the number of on-call officers it maintains from four to three. If one employee were to depart the agency, the second facility would likely have to reduce operations.
The Animal Control Committee voted unanimously on Thursday afternoon to put a request for one additional clerical employee into the county’s fiscal year 2027 budget. Clerical employees take care of office and facility duties at Animal Control. The agency was provided funding for one additional employee in the current budget, but had requested funding for two. About $50,000 would be needed to fund the position, an amount which would include pay and benefits.
The responsibilities of Animal Control continue to grow as Greene County grows. According to Animal Control’s annual report, the agency responded to 3,342 calls for service in 2025, which is 283 more calls than in 2024. A total of 148 animal bite investigations were also conducted. Animals Control housed 2,329 animals in 2025, 157 more than in 2024. 1,606 animals were adopted from the agency in 2025, 173 more than the previous year. A total of 536 animals were euthanized in 2025, which is 23 more than 2024, but that figure includes the 85 aggressive and sick roosters the agency took in. The figure also includes 400 aggressive animals, and 118 unhealthy animals. Only 17 adoptable animals were euthanized by Animal Control in 2025 according to the report, up from one in 2024.
Animal Control Committee member and County Commissioner Chase Murray noted that if the 85 roosters were taken out the equations, Animal Control euthanized about 50 fewer animal than in 2024.
“Well we’re gaining on it for sure a little bit at a time. When I came on 12 years ago it was a lot higher,” committee member and County Commissioner Lyle Parton said.
There were 804 animals relinquished to Animal Control in 2025, up 42 compared to 2024.
Committee member and County Commissioner Robin Quillen reminded those at the meeting that she personally helps run a “pet food pantry” on Loretta Street, that provides food and water to those who may need help feeding their pets. She said the pantry holds a pet food distribution every Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
She noted hoped people would take advantage of the pet pantry, and that people can receive continual help through the pantry to feed their pets.
“If we can get that out there more, we might be able to stop a lot of the relinquishments if these people know they can get help,” Quillen said.
