DeKalb County Animal Services Must Find Homes for 150+ Dogs By the End of January 2023
Out of space, will have to euthanize to make room for incoming animals in need
ATLANTA, GA (Jan 24, 2023) – LifeLine Animal Project, the organization that manages the DeKalb County shelter, is urgently trying to find adopters and fosters for at least 150 dogs by January 31, 2023. There are nearly 600 dogs at the shelter, which has been operating at critical capacity for over a year. If more animals do not leave the facility, either through adoption or to foster homes, the shelter will have to euthanize dogs to make space.
The DeKalb County Animal Services shelter was built in 2017 to house approximately 450 dogs at full capacity. Largely due to economic and housing factors, pet adoptions are down 31% over this time last year. DeKalb’s shelter no longer has room to humanely house dogs, nor space for incoming pets in need.
Further complicating the matter, a recent outbreak of canine flu affected all three LifeLine shelters in DeKalb and Fulton Counties. A temporary shelter, LifeLine Midtown, has been opened to divert some dog intake from LifeLine’s primary shelters during the outbreak.
“The current economic situation, the nationwide drop in shelter adoptions and now, the emergence of canine flu in our community – all have negatively affected dogs, both inside and outside our shelters,” says Rebecca Guinn, CEO of LifeLine Animal Project. “In the past, we’ve had the capacity to create lifesaving options for dogs in our care who require more specialized placement. Now, we are completely out of options for many dogs and will have to make very painful decisions if we can’t get help from our community to quickly reduce the overall number of dogs living in our DeKalb shelter.”
During the month of January, all four LifeLine shelters will offer $23 adoptions. That price includes all vaccination, spay/neuter and microchip fees valued at $250.
To view animals available for adoption at all four of our shelters, please visit LifeLineAnimal.org.
