The current main animal shelter at 860 Marietta Blvd. was built in 1978, when the expectation was that animals would be picked up in response to public complaints, held for a week, then euthanized if no one claimed them, said Matthew Kallmyer, director of the Atlanta-Fulton Emergency Management Agency, which oversees animal services.

That shelter was only designed to hold 120 to 150 animals, and wasn’t set up to promote adoption, said Alton Adams, Fulton’s chief operating officer for Justice, Public Safety and Technology.

“Obviously a lot’s changed since then,” he said.

When Avondale Estates-based LifeLine Animal Project got the county contract to manage animal services, there was only a 39% survival rate, Kallmyer said. That number is now more than 90%, with only those that are dangerous or too ill euthanized, he said.

But the facility itself is “grim,” Adams said.

Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC

Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC

Now a new shelter, designed to last another half-century, is going up on county-owned land at 1251 Fulton Industrial Blvd. At 50,000 square feet, it’s roughly three times the size of the old shelter.

“It truly is going to be a facility that we can all be proud of,” Adams said. It will offer more space for each animal, education programs for the public, nicer spaces for volunteers and staff, and room for people to come and play with animals as part of the adoption process.

The county is looking to move animals to the new shelter sometime in November.

Intake at the shelter is expected to increase and level off at about 8,000 animals a year, Kallmyer said. The shelter took in more than 3,800 lost dogs last year, up 5% from 2021, said Heather Friedman, chief marketing officer for LifeLine.

Animal intake numbers have gone up and down over the past few years, but this year they’re expected to rise, said shelter manager Audrey Shoemaker.

“Approximately 80% of our intake are dogs, which is unusual for this region,” she said.

The main shelter and Midtown location are both full, according to LifeLine.

“We are at a capacity issue,” Kallmyer said. “We see more and more animals coming in, and not as many going out.” That’s a nationwide trend, he said.

When an epidemic of canine flu struck last December, workers and volunteers turned the former Atlanta Humane Society building in midtown into a “pop-up shelter” in four days to isolate 75 dogs, Friedman said. That took a lot of work.

The flu passed quickly, but even when it was over there wasn’t enough room in the main shelter to take those 75 dogs, so the midtown location remains open, Friedman said.

The pandemic year of 2020 was one of the best for pet adoption, but last year the adoption rate declined, Friedman said. Dog adoptions dropped 15% and overall adoptions were down 26%.

Now even free or almost-free adoption isn’t generating the same response as before, Kallmyer said.

According to a December presentation to county commissioners, LifeLine answered 17,197 calls for service and took in 6,799 animals from October 2021 to September 2022. Of those animals, 2,864 were adopted and 2,136 sent to rescue groups or other shelters. LifeLine also performs more than 13,000 spay/neuter surgeries each year, according to the presentation.

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

What’s coming

Fulton commissioners approved the new shelter in November 2019. Then it was expected to be a $32.5 million project. A news release from the December 2021 groundbreaking put the price at $38 million, but now it stands at $40 million, according to the county’s adjusted 2022 budget.

The county hired Denver firm Animal Arts to design the new shelter; COVID-19 put plans on hold for two years, but the building should be finished in October, Adams said.

Even when work should’ve begun there were “substantial delays” and cost increases due to the rising price of building materials, Kallmyer said.

The new shelter is near Interstates 20 and 285 for easy public access, and is also in the area where the greatest number of animals are picked up, he said. It’s designed to hold 99 cats, 376 dogs, one or two dozen small animals, up to 18 chickens and a half-dozen livestock, Kallmyer said.

Cats will be housed in group “catdomidiums,” glassed in so visitors can watch them, he said.

“We have never really had a true place for cats in the current facility,” Kallmyer said. There will be more than a dozen “meet and greet” areas where people can get to know animals before adopting them, he said.

It will have separate ventilation systems for sick animals, facilities designed specifically for smaller animals, and a maternity ward, Kallmyer said.

Right now LifeLine offers veterinary services in a double-wide trailer, he said. The new facility will rival a standard animal hospital, and will provide low- to no-cost treatment, Kallmyer said.

“That is something that we’re super-excited about,” he said.

It will have a secure location where animals can be brought in, and a barn and pasture for livestock. Fulton County has lots of livestock but the current shelter has room for only one large animal.

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

The costs

LifeLine’s most recent contract with Fulton County expires at the end of 2023 and gives the nonprofit agency responsibility for animal control field operations, shelter operations, adoptions, surrenders, spay/neutering and rabies control.

The county paid LifeLine $3.6 million a year from 2019 through 2022, but that went up to $4.9 million in 2023 due to “significant increases in operating and labor costs,” the contract says.

Total operating expenses from October 2021 to September 2022 reached $5.1 million, according to the December presentation. County funds paid only 70% of that, so LifeLine covered most of the rest.

LifeLine has subsidized the contract for five years, increasing every year and reaching $1.8 million in the 12 months before September 2022.

“We’ve seen about a 45% increase in our operating expenses, about a 77% increase in our veterinary expenses,” Kallmyer said.

Insurance costs are up too, he said. Meanwhile the county is getting about 20% less than before for animal licenses.

“We have seen a reduction in philanthropic donations,” Kallmyer said. Times are also tighter for animal rescue groups, he said.

And the shelter is having trouble hiring staff, Kallmyer said. Pay is lower than at many other jobs.

Starting pay for a shelter worker was $14 an hour in 2020, but has risen to $16 an hour now, Shoemaker said. That’s still a dollar short of starting pay in DeKalb County, she said. Fulton animal control officers in the field start at $19 an hour.

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

The future

The new, larger shelter will need more staff and offer more services — therefore increasing costs.

Fulton County spends about 30% less on animal control per capita than other Metro Atlanta counties, and 40% less than benchmark counties nationwide, Kallmyer said.

The county pays for a portion of animal control services directly, but each city also contributes based on how many animals are picked up within their boundaries, he said.

No cities in Fulton County have their own animal shelter, but some do have animal control officers that bring animals to the county, Kallmyer said.

Fulton County employs Kallmyer and two administrators directly, but all other animal control employees work for LifeLine. DeKalb County also partners with LifeLine, but the other counties in Metro Atlanta have in-house animal control.

Animal services now has 78 staff, including 21 in the field, Shoemaker said. Three hundred fifty-three people volunteered at Fulton County Animal Services in 2022, Friedman said.

About 70 animal rescue groups in Metro Atlanta partner with LifeLine to foster animals that are brought to the shelter, from small animals to horses, Kallmyer said.

As LifeLine’s contract is set to expire, the county will seek new proposals to operate animal services, Kallmyer said. That could be LifeLine or someone else, he said.

LifeLine is “100% interested” in continuing to provide animal services in Fulton County, Friedman said.

Fulton County Animal Services and LifeLine offer many services to help people keep their pets, and keep them healthy. That can even include going door-to-door in areas with the greatest need and transporting pets for free spay/neuter services, according to Heather Friedman, LifeLine chief marketing officer. Public events several times a year offer free pet supplies, microchipping and other help.

Details can be found at www.fultonanimalservices.com or www.lifelineanimal.org.

Area shelters are full and adoption rates are down. To adopt an animal go to any of the following locations:

• 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