Lifeline Animal Project has received a $40,000 donation to support the pet shelter’s efforts to control the spread of a canine flu.
The donation by Best Friends Animal Society is intended to help spur donations to Lifeline, which manages animal services for Fulton and DeKalb counties.
Best Friends, an animal welfare organization, describes Lifeline as being in “crisis mode.”
Lifeline has opened a temporary shelter in Midtown at 981 Howell Mill Road to help lessen operations at its three permanent locations where pets have been treated for canine influenza virus type H3N2. The virus originated in birds before being transmitted to dogs, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website states. And there have also been reports of the canine virus infecting cats.
Sick pets at Lifeline’s permanent shelters have been treated and quarantined.
Lifeline Midtown is open for adoptions and fostering with the capacity to house 150 animals on an emergency basis, a Lifeline statement said, adding that adoptions at all four shelters are $23 through Jan. 31. That price covers all vaccinations as well as spay/neuter and microchip fees.
Credit: Courtesy Lifeline Animal Project
Credit: Courtesy Lifeline Animal Project
Lifeline is in need of volunteers and matching donations to help operate its temporary facility, the statement added.
“(Best Friends has) helped make a very challenging situation more manageable for us,” Lifeline CEO Rebecca Guinn said.
Best Friends Animal Society operates a national program to stop the killing of dogs and cats in animal shelters across the U.S. by 2025. The organization estimates its no-kill movement has helped reduce the number of animals killed in shelters from an estimated 17 million per year to around 355,000.
Fraily Rodriguez, a director with the organization, said the canine flu has compounded Lifeline’s work to find homes for pets in its overcrowded shelters.
“Best Friends has worked with LifeLine Animal Project for many years to service the Atlanta community and is committed to saving lives here .. and across the nation,” he said. ”We encourage anyone who can to foster, adopt and support the shelter during this difficult time.”
To view animals available for adoption at Lifeline shelters visit LifeLineAnimal.org.
