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ANIMAL WELFARE ADVOCATES WARN PET GUARDIANS:
IF YOU LOSE YOUR PET IN FULTON COUNTY IT PROBABLY WILL BE KILLED IN 72 HOURS
Atlanta area animal welfare advocates are warning Fulton County pet guardians about the Atlanta Humane Society's management of the Fulton County Animal Control Shelter. City of Atlanta and Fulton County taxpayers pay $2.1 million dollars a year to the Atlanta Humane Society to run the Fulton Animal Shelter at 860 Marietta Blvd. However, under Atlanta Humane Society management, the public is not even allowed to enter the Fulton County Animal Control Shelter in order to adopt a pet. Because of Atlanta Humane Society policy, almost every dog and cat not reclaimed by its caretaker at the Fulton Animal Shelter is killed within 3 days - about 11,000 pets each year.
The vast majority of pets killed at the Fulton Shelter are not vicious strays, wild or unadoptable animals. They are friendly, personal pets lost from their homes - including homes in Buckhead, Sandy Springs, Alpharetta and East Point.
Only 5% of animals at the Fulton County Shelter are ever given the chance of being seen for adoption. The rest of the animals not quickly reclaimed by their guardians are usually dead in 72 hours, without even being scanned for a microchip. Other local Atlanta animal shelters of similar size scan all pets for microchips and adopt ten times as many animals as Fulton does under AHS management!
Fulton County has never scrutinized its animal control contract with the Atlanta Humane Society in its nearly 20 years of existence. County officials so far have refused to hire an experienced animal shelter evaluation organization to assess and make recommendations for change.
Janet Weiss, president of local animal welfare organization Stopping Pet Overpopulation Together, Inc. states "the Fulton Animal Control under the management of the Atlanta Humane Society is nothing more than a pet slaughterhouse with 11,000 pets killed there annually. These dogs and cats are killed without ever being given the chance of finding a new adoptive home. Not only is the county remiss in contracting with the Atlanta Humane Society to operate this facility, but it is hardly ethical for a humane society to take on a contract to kill pets without allowing them an opportunity to be adopted."