The time for adopting or fostering a dog, especially from Fulton County, is now.
Animal shelter staff will meet Tuesday to recalculate their space needs, and that will determine whether — or how many — dogs will have to be euthanized, said Heather Friedman, chief marketing officer for LifeLine Animal Project, which oversees the shelters in Fulton and DeKalb counties.
Eight to 10 dogs could face euthanasia immediately, she said. And that number could rise as more dogs arrive, as they always do.
Canine flu is tearing through the main Fulton shelter on Marietta Boulevard. Several dogs had died, and most others in the main Fulton shelter were showing symptoms as of Friday.
“Animals are very, very sick,” Friedman said.
Workers needed to remove 64 dogs from the Midtown Atlanta overflow shelter so they could clean it as a safe intake space for new arrivals. They hoped a Sunday open house and free adoptions — normally $85 — would clear out that space.
But only a dozen dogs were adopted from Midtown on Sunday, according to Erica Beard of Fulton County Animal Services. And another 23 dogs came into that location on Friday and Saturday.
As of Monday, after efforts to adopt out, foster or return to owners all the dogs they could, there were still 31 dogs at Midtown, Beard said.
Free adoption is still available. That includes spaying/neutering, microchipping and vaccination, Friedman said. An anonymous donor is sponsoring 200 adoptions, and County Commissioner Steve Bradshaw is sponsoring more in DeKalb County.
If euthanasia is necessary to clear the Midtown shelter, it won’t be puppies or other easily adoptable, healthy animals chosen. Instead, it will be those with some behavioral issues that need more time to adapt to the shelter environment, Friedman said. But there is little time left.
“Our organization does not take these decisions lightly,” she said.
Shelters were at or near capacity even before the flu outbreak. Before the weekend adoption push, the DeKalb shelter needed to find homes for 150 dogs, while Fulton shelters needed homes for more than 90 altogether, according to LifeLine.
In DeKalb County, 150 dogs walked out the door to new homes over the weekend — but another 130 came in, Friedman said. And there are still 567 dogs altogether in Fulton shelters, despite about two dozen leaving the Midtown shelter.
“So we didn’t get any relief, really,” she said.
To adopt or foster animals go to www.fultonanimalservices.com, www.dekalbanimalservices.com or www.lifelineanimal.org, or go to any of the following locations. No appointment is needed.
• Fulton County Animal Services, 860 Marietta Blvd. NW, Atlanta
• LifeLine Animal Project Midtown, 981 Howell Mill Road NW, Atlanta
• Community Animal Center, 3180 Presidential Drive, Atlanta
• DeKalb County Animal Services, 3280 Chamblee Dunwoody Road, Chamblee
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