Visitors to the Georgia Governor’s Mansion this Saturday can go home with a damn good dog. Or cat.
First lady Marty Kemp has announced a pet adoption event from 9 a.m. to noon. It's free and open to the public but advance registration is required. Sign up for your one-hour visit here. Adoption fees will be handled by the various pet shelter and rescue groups scheduled to attend.
“I love animals. They’ve always been a huge part of our family,” said Kemp, a 4-H mom known to feed strays on the campaign trail. “It’s a great thing to be able to bring a lot of animals here and then let people come to the mansion, check it out and adopt.”
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The Saturday event will feature about 100 cats and dogs from humane societies, animal shelters, and pet rescue organizations from across the state, including the Atlanta Humane Society.
“The Atlanta Humane Society is honored to partner with the First Lady of Georgia for this pet adoption event,” said president and CEO Cal Morgan. “We will be able to raise awareness of the homeless pets in our state and increase the numbers of animals being adopted into loving homes, including many who will find homes at this event.”
Cobb County Commissioner JoAnn K. Birrell accompanied a canine delegation from her county the other day for an advance meet-and-greet. Adoptable pets like Major, shown below, looked ready to move right in:
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
The Governor’s Mansion has long welcomed our state’s four-legged residents.
The late Louie D. Newton, a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, raised sheep in his Druid Hills backyard and in 1971 brought the little lamb he named after Amy Carter to meet her namesake:
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Gov. George Busbee and family moved in with their dog Sam, shown here with Jeff Busbee in 1975:
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Ivy the boxer, who lived at the mansion during former Gov. Sonny Perdue’s administration, was quite the diplomat (and a snazzy dresser).
A press release issued on her behalf, with the photo below, in 2003 sought to console Uga, the University of Georgia’s mascot famously hailed as a “Damn Good Dog” when the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame inexplicably declined to induct him.
"Ivy was devastated by the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame Authority's decision and hopes that an evening running around the grounds at the mansion and enjoying a nice meal will help take Uga's mind off of it," Ivy said through a spokesperson at the time.
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And check out the happy canine welcome at the end of this video taken during Perdue’s tenure at 391 West Paces Ferry:
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The Kemps’ rustic property in Athens is home to a menagerie including sheep, goats and horses (and a lighting-fast barn cat). During a visit before Gov. Brian Kemp’s inauguration, we met Lula the horse, Miracle the sheep and Butterscotch the goat. They all stayed in Athens, but family’s golden retriever, Bailey, and Rhett the German shepherd made the trip to Atlanta.
“Rhett and Bailey are great. They love it up here,” Marty Kemp said. “They can run around and play. We’re working on their boot camp still. It is a work in progress. So far, so good.”
Georgia’s first family experienced a loss shortly after moving in, though. Their 13-year-old lab, Gus, passed away after an illness.
“He got us settled here. He waited till we were all good and he could go,” Marty Kemp said, becoming emotional. “It was a tough day.”
Will one of the animals up for adoption on Saturday stay at the Governor’s Mansion?
“I would never say never,” Marty Kemp said, “but I’m going to let the big boss make that call.”
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