Decatur dog shelter puts out urgent call for adoptions

July 18th, 2022

A shelter dog looks out from a crate after having been unloaded from a cargo plane, Tuesday, April 20, 2021, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)

Metro Atlanta animal shelters experienced a boom of adoptions during the pandemic as many people spent more time at home and sought out canine companions.

But those numbers have dropped sharply in recent months, and local animal shelters have become pressed for space and resources.

Now that mask mandates are gone, housing is less affordable, and inflation is up, adoptions are at their lowest and returns are higher than ever.

The situation is especially dire for iWag dog shelter in Decatur, which is trying to find homes for about thirty dogs before they’re forced to close their doors next month ahead of relocation.

The Decatur shelter is offering free adoptions and discounted training through August 31.

Kristie Wilder is the Executive Director of iWag and she joined “Morning Edition” to put out the call to action.

She said the shelter is trying to find homes for about 30 dogs before their current building is scheduled to be demolished. They are currently working to get established in a new location.

“It’s a really tough situation right now,” said Wilder. “We’ve gone from, pre-COVID we would get three or four calls or emails per week from people looking to surrender dogs and we’re now up to 15 or 20 per day.”

Wilder said some of the dogs will require “special families” that have the patience to care for dogs with easily controlled medical issues or fearfulness.

Wilder said she’s worried about what will happen if they cannot find homes in time for all the dogs, but the safety of the dogs is their utmost priority.