DeKalb County leaders, under public pressure for over a year to improve how it handles stray and unwanted pets, got a new response Tuesday: applause.
Nearly 100 animal advocates clapped and cheered when officials presented three finalist sites for a new animal shelter, including the advocates’ preferred site as well as a county park that could also accommodate a dog run and trails.
“If they can make that happen, we would love to see a new dog park,” said Barbara Davis, an east DeKalb resident who leads the Advocates for DeKalb Animals. “The thing is, animals are dying every day. So time matters.”
CEO Burrell Ellis and allies on the county’s commission put forward a plan in March designed to speed up building the new facility that, advocates argue, is critical to reducing the county’s high euthanasia rate.
The plan called for using $2.75 million in federal stimulus money to design and start construction of a new facility on five acres adjacent to DeKalb-Peachtree Airport in Chamblee.
County commissioners put the brakes on that proposal in April over concerns that it was not located centrally enough for all residents.
That led department leaders to re-examine 84 potential sites for the shelter, considering location along with price, timeline and access for volunteers and adopters.
The final recommendations are the same as those from a 2012 citizen task force: the PDK site, a former auto dealership at 2915 Lawrenceville Highway and Johns Homestead, a 47-acre county-owned green space at 3071 Lawrenceville Highway.
Commissioner Elaine Boyer, whose district includes the two Lawrenceville Highway locations in Tucker, said she wanted to see if the county could use parks bond money to develop facilities around a new shelter on the Homestead. The property includes the Twin Brothers Lakes and is mostly open land.
“This could be a way to develop it in a really cool way, quite frankly,” she said.
The price and timeline have yet to be specified. Also unclear is how to untangle legal questions of whether the county can use park bond money and whether the stimulus dollars can go toward all of the sites, to offset the estimated $8 million price tag.
Sonali Saindane, a teacher from central DeKalb who heads the citizen advisory board, said she was disappointed those lingering questions will delay a final recommendation for two weeks.
But while advocates still prefer the PDK site, Saindane said the main goal remains replacing the existing dilapidated shelter off Memorial Drive.
Problems such as mold and bug infestations moved the task force to call the facility a “chamber of horrors,” where more than 60 percent of animals fail to make it out alive.
“We’re looking for the biggest bang for the buck, where we can afford to start construction right away,” Saindane said. “We’re happy we’re headed in that direction, but we’re sad it’s taking so long.”
What’s next: A final recommendation for a shelter site is expected June 18. A vote could come as early as June 25, though construction on any facility is unlikely until early 2014.
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