Fulton County has finally taken steps to replace the cramped, dank animal shelter near a swamp on Marietta Boulevard.
The shelter is about four decades old and was originally built to house about 100 dogs, according to the county. Now on any given day, there are more than 400 dogs, up to 50 cats and sometimes a horse and goat.
“The one we have is older and no longer meets the requirements of an animal shelter,” says Alton Adams, deputy chief operating officer for public safety in Fulton County.
He also says the facility is not a hospitable environment for its animals or volunteers.
There’s not enough space for the hundreds of animals housed there.
“We do our spaying and neutering in a trailer in the back,” Adams says. “We don’t have adequate spacing for horses and other animals we often get. We don’t have enough outside room for animals.”
Cleanliness is a concern, as well as the shelter’s HVAC system.
“You have problems around the cooling and ventilation system. Think about it. It’s like being in a car for five people and then you put 15 people in there,” he says.
There’s also a vermin problem.
“We’ve had a problem in terms of keeping vermin out of the building,” Adams says. “It turns out that dog food is something that rats really like.”
In 2018, volunteers started a petition for the county to get a new shelter. More than 30,000 people have signed the petition. The shelter is managed by the nonprofit LifeLine Animal Project.
This week, the Fulton County Board of Commissioners approved $270,000 to conduct a feasibility study to figure out the size, location and cost of a new shelter.
The study will start this month. Later this year, there will also be public hearings to get community input.
Adams says the goal is to have a report to the commissioners late this year so that funding can make it into the 2020 budget cycle.
