Long-awaited Animal Control Center to open Saturday

After years of controversy and delays, Clayton County will debut its long-awaited new animal shelter this weekend.

Getting the $3.3 million facility opened has been a bone of contention for years between the county and animal rights group who have been regulars at county commission meetings. The two sides have sparred over the years over accusations of poor conditions, overcrowding and mass killings at the current shelter in Jonesboro.

The new 12,018-square-foot Animal Control and Adoption Center in Ellenwood was paid for by money from a 2009 Special Local Options Sales Tax or SPLOST. Its opening, however, was delayed by a recession, a change in county leadership and setbacks in finding a new site for the shelter.

Now the two sides will come together at a ribbon-cutting and open house on Saturday at the Anvil Block Road facility from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

On Wednesday, Amy Adams and Maria Dorough took a tour of the facility and proclaimed it “beautiful.” But the pair, founders of a nonprofit called Partners for Pets, worried whether the center has enough kennels for large animals. The facility has 56 large-animal kennels.

The nonprofit has been working in Clayton since September 2011 as a liaison between the county and animal rescue groups.

The shelter, which will house cats and dogs, will have designated areas for adoption and a bonding area where the potential pet owner and animal can get to know each other. The facility also will serve as the administrative office for the county’s animal control unit. It can hold up to 59 adult dogs, 26 puppies and 28 cats.

The county is “still developing a plan of how we would use the old animal shelter in conjunction with the new one,” said Clayton Chief Operating Officer Detrick Stanford. Adams and Dorough said they would have preferred to see the new facility physically closer to the current shelter rather than secluded nearly 10 miles away in the northeast corner of the county in Ellenwood.

“It certainly will develop a greater experience for a potential adopter or even a first-time pet owner by coming to our new animal control center,” Stanford said.

The county worked together with various animal rights group to insure the facility was user-friendly, Stanford said.

Clayton does not allow adoption of Pit Bulls that are taken in by the county although rescue groups can obtain the dogs, Stanford said.

Stanford also noted, “We’re looking at separating the population of Pit Bulls from other dogs” - a point that concerns Adams and Dorough. The pair noted that other counties - DeKalb, Gwinnett and Fulton allow for adoption of Pit Bulls from their shelters.

The facility is at 3199 Anvil Block Rd. in Ellenwood.