HOW TO HELP
A drive to help replenish supplies at the shelter will take place Saturday from 12-6 p.m. at the Walmart on Highway 27 in Lafayette. Needs include dog and cat food, treats, litter, unscented baby wipes, Clorox wipes and paper towels. For more information or to volunteer, call 423-827-4093.
The Walker County (Georgia) Animal Shelter is accepting animals again after suspending intake in June due to overcrowding.
Commissioner Shannon Whitfield made the announcement Thursday, adding that animals now will be accepted only by appointment. People needing to drop off animals must call 706-375-2100.
“We’re asking residents to call and schedule an appointment, so we can balance the load and keep our staff from being overwhelmed,” Whitfield said in a statement. “The shelter was not designed to hold an infinite number of dogs and cats. We need to manage intake with capacity, so that the shelter doesn’t become overcrowded again.”
The capacity of the shelter, located on Marbletop Road in Chickamauga, is dependent on the animals in its care. If staff can double up small dogs that get along, the shelter can host a maximum of 96 dogs, but if they receive only larger dogs that are aggressive toward others, it can hold only 48. Cats are different because of the size of the cages, county spokesman Joe Legge explained in June. At the time of the intake suspension, the shelter population reached 122.
Currently, there are 59 dogs and cats housed at the shelter, the news release states.
Contributing to the overcrowding situation was the shelter’s drop in the rate of euthanasia. Two years ago, the rate was about 50%. But, in 2017, Whitfield pledged to bring that number down by working with the national nonprofit Target Zero, which assessed that the rate could be brought down to 10%, according to a Times Free Press article from the time.
This year, 15 dogs and zero cats have been euthanized, according to Walker County departmental statistics released in July. Comparatively, 336 dogs and 396 cats were euthanized in 2017.
“We made the decision to not give up on an animal, and that’s causing the [population] number to get higher than in the past,” Legge said in June at the time intake was suspended.
During the suspension, maintenance staff made needed repairs and upgrades to the shelter, the release states.
In the announcement Thursday, Whitfield also said Emily Sadler has been appointed manager of the shelter.
A drive to help replenish supplies will take place Saturday from noon-6 p.m. at the Walmart on Highway 27 in Lafayette. Needs include dog and cat food, treats, litter, unscented baby wipes, Clorox wipes and paper towels.
For more information or to volunteer, call 423-827-4093.