A new animal shelter opened Wednesday morning in DeKalb County.
The facility, near the DeKalb-Peachtree Airport, can house more than 400 animals. Currently, the shelter has about 140 animals, and more will be coming in soon. It has 12 adoption rooms for dogs and three for cats.
“It’s really designed to be an adoption showcase,” says Rebecca Guinn, CEO of the Animal Lifeline Project.
The facility also features a 1,300-square-foot clinic that includes a surgery prep and surgery room, a lab area, secure pharmacy storage and holding areas for animals scheduled for surgery.
The clinic will provide spay and neuter services as well.
Not only will the shelter be able to house cats and dogs, but it can also hold reptiles — and even horses.
“A lot of us have wanted this so bad for so long. And now to walk around, see animals in single cages with sunlight coming in, and music being piped in. It’s just amazing, says Karen Hirsch, the director of public relations at the Animal Lifeline Project.
The shelter is publicly funded and costs about $12 million to construct.
Animal advocates had started lobbying for a new shelter more than a decade ago. County commissioners signed a contract to build it just last year.
With the new shelter being open to the public, the old DeKalb shelter will permanently close Aug. 15. Animals not adopted by that date will be transferred to the new facility.
