By Lee Woodward
According to Cobb County Animal Services, eleven cats and dogs found new homes Tuesday, yet 195 remained awaiting new owners.
Nina, a 2-year-old pit bull became one of the lucky ones when John, her new owner arrived to take her home. “My wife saw her earlier and loves her,” John said. “But she doesn’t know I’m coming to get her.”
Kennesaw State University student Alexis picked up Coco, an 8-month-old Pit-Terrier mix. “She is my first adoption,” Alexis said.
Soul, a black, long-haired poodle, went home with Javi and Naomi. The 1-year-old puppy will join a family that already has two other dogs.
Another rescuer, Alec, picked up two male Miniature Doberman littermates for a friend. Not knowing their names yet, he referred to them as “Thing 1” and “Thing 2.”
“We’re getting a lot of pit bull mixes,” Director Stephen Hammond said. “They’re still great dogs, but they can be aggressive.”
The open admissions shelter remains close to its capacity of roughly 250. It continues to maintain an 82% live release rate. Though it strives to achieve a no-kill status, the shelter must euthanize unsafe animals and those it cannot restore to health.
The adoption fee, $115 per pet, covers spaying and neutering, booster shots, worming and a microchip implant.
The facility’s residents include dogs, cats, and a variety of other animals. Many of them come from owners who don’t want to give them up but can no longer afford to keep them. Apartment complexes are tightening up on pets, as well. While the shelter keeps any mammals it takes in, it turns over its reptiles to Scaley Addictions, a rescue service in Paulding County.
Every walkable dog in the shelter gets walked every day, thanks to an army of volunteers. The shelter also receives donations of crates, food, towels, toys and blankets for pet owners needing financial help.
Hours run from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. New owners can pick up their pets after 3:30 p.m. The shelter closes on Mondays, so volunteers can give it a deep cleaning to maintain a healthy environment.
The shelter also helps police investigative animal cruelty cases and has a full-time Cobb County police officer on staff to handle felony cases. Its staff have served as advisers to jurisdictions around the Southeast and elsewhere. When calls come in about strays or dead animals on the highway, shelter employees go out and retrieve them.
A recent addition to the shelter’s many programs is Super Pets for Patriotic Vets. Funded through the generosity of Superior Plumbing, the program matches animals with veterans who may not qualify elsewhere for similar programs.
A new building will go up soon, funded by SPLOST. The shelter is interviewing finalists now for the position of construction manager.
Periodically, the shelter will host a free adoption event at various locations around the county. For updated information on this and pictures of furry friends looking for loving families, go to https://www.cobbcounty.org/animal-services.
As a student at the University of Georgia, Lee Woodward studied journalism, literature and history. He also worked for local and campus newspapers. It was there that he first developed his love of writing. His fiction career began with the publication of his debut novel, Unfinished Business, a murder mystery set in 1968 in rural Florida. The remaining installments in his Tom Williams series, Fly Away, Pronounced Ponce, and Last Gleaming, take place more recently in the Atlanta area.
He is married and lives in East Cobb where he spends his free time writing, reading, and playing tennis. He also enjoys community outreach activities.
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