Price tag climbing for DeKalb animal shelter

DeKalb County will need to find another $3 million if it decides to build the kind of new animal shelter that advocates want.

After months of study and years of pressure from advocates, the county decided last year to build a new facility next to DeKalb-Peachtree Airport. The goal was to reduce the county’s 60 percent euthanasia rate and replace the current shelter called a “chamber of horrors” in a task force report.

The estimate for a new 31,000-square foot facility as of last year was $8.1 million. Tuesday, advocates pushed for a 57,000-square foot facility, with an estimated price tag of $11.4 million.

That design and size would be able to house 375 dogs and 150 cats to accommodate current and projected animal intake through 2025, said Sonali Saindane, a teacher who heads the county’s Animal Services Advisory Board.

Commissioners plan to discuss the issue again at its May 20 meeting. For more details about the plan, read www.MyAJC.com or tomorrow’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

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April Hunt

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