Officer Dwain Floyd hangs out with Ace the Australian Shepherd Wednesday at the Cullman County Animal Shelter. Floyd says the local shelter has maintained a strong adoption rate in recent months.

This Christmas, as always, some local children will wake up to find a furry, wet-nosed bundle of fur waiting for them under the tree.

In the moment, puppies and kittens make for some of the most satisfying presents. Few gifts press their recipients’ emotional buttons the way pets can.

But unlike toys, games or cell phones, pets immediately begin to need their owner to give them something back. For many, that can be a rewarding interaction. The pet becomes a new member of the family; one that enriches the lives of its owners — and leaves a bitter void when its own relatively short life comes to an end.

Yet for some, the novelty fades quickly and the realities of owning a living, dependent animal grow wearying. The pet gets neglected; the owners feel guilty. After a time, everyone decides their lives would be a whole lot simpler without having to keep up with a dog — now no longer a puppy — or a cat.

Nationwide, animal shelters see a predictable surge of abandoned animals as that post-Christmas cycle plays out. The ease with which pets can be bought on impulse — in parking lots, at pets stores and through classified advertising — exacerbates the trend.

Thankfully, at the Cullman County Animal Shelter, it’s not a trend that’s manifested to the extent seen elsewhere. In large measure, that owes to the shelter’s diligent enforcement of animal control laws and a rigid adherence to adoption protocols.

“Here, they sign a contract,” said shelter officer Dwain Floyd of local adopting families. “If we were to have somebody come back to us with one of our own dogs, we’re probably going to be more aggressive on the enforcement side. People who come to us know: they signed a contract; they knew what they were getting themselves into. It isn’t some puppy they picked up off the streets. They went through a process to get this animal.”

That’s why the shelter sees few animals returned by their regretful adopting owners. The adoption process, said Floyd, does a pretty good job of screening out impulse pet shoppers. And the community is fortunate to have its share of level-headed and responsible adopters.

“Here, it’s not just a question of someone coming in off the street and saying, ‘Aww, look at that puppy! It’s sweet and cute!’ They know a little bit about what they’re taking on when they come here. Of course, everybody, everywhere, should be that way. But for the most part, the people who adopt from us really do.

“In fact, we tend to get the ‘good’ kind of returns — the people who adopted an animal from us five or six years ago, and are ready to come back and adopt another one, after that pet has passed on. Those are the kind of people we like to see.”

Floyd said the shelter has also had a lot of success in adopting out the animals it takes in.

In the month of November, for example, the shelter took in 49 adoption-eligible dogs. That same month, it placed 46 of them. As for the other three?

“Those were placed after the month turned over to December,” said Floyd. “They technically weren’t adopted in November — but they were adopted. That’s a 100 percent rate for adoptable dogs.”