DeKalb animal shelters expanding services after county approves new funding
DeKalb County has extended its animal services contract with LifeLine Animal Project. In March, the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners approved more than $1.18 million in annual funding.
The nonprofit said the funding will increase its free spay/neuter capacity from 1,000 surgeries in 2025 to 4,800 in 2026 and 6,000 annually at full scale. It will also be a boost to its mobile veterinary clinics and community outreach in the neighborhoods it has designated as "high-need."
"LifeLine already performs nearly 15,000 spay/neuter surgeries annually across its programs, making it the highest-volume provider in Georgia," LifeLine said in a statement. "The county's investment builds on that existing infrastructure, expanding services in a way that is both immediate and sustainable."
LifeLine Animal Project CEO Rebecca Guinn said the money is already being put into action.
"Lifeline already has the largest spay neuter network in the state, right, but we're full. We needed additional funding to be open seven days a week," Guinn said. "We just started this last weekend. Open Friday, Saturday, Sunday for spay/neuter in addition to Monday and Thursday that we're always open. We want to eliminate barriers for people, so transportation, costs, and that's what we can do with this program."
Guinn said the funding was needed now more than ever. She added that she believes this may be one of the largest single investments ever in the country.
"We've managed the DeKalb County shelter for the last 13 years, and the last two years we've seen the highest intake ever. Last year was a new record. Almost 10,000 animals came into the DeKalb shelter last year," she said. "The majority of animals that come into the DeKalb shelter are considered stray or lost animals. We want to stop some of the unwanted births in the community and then get people resources before they have to make a hard decision."
Veterinarian Mary-Elizabeth Ellard said sterilization procedures can avoid a long list of health issues for animals, and can even be the difference between life and death down the line.
"Each surgeon does 20-30 a day, four to five days a week," Ellard said. "He or she is going to live longer. That's the bottom line. One of the best ways to control feline leukemia and feline immunosuppressive virus in community cats is to spay and neuter them. The chances of them spreading those diseases at that point virtually goes down to zero. It's great for not just the animals themselves but also the community's animals. Things like pyometra, breast cancer in females, prostatitis in males, those are extremely common.
"We can keep more animals out of shelters, and we can take care of our community's pets, both those that are owned, those that are stray, those that end up in our shelters, and this essentially doubles our ability to do that," she continued.
LifeLine said the contract will also add new community engagement staff, will create a pet resource hub, and will expand support for community cat caretakers.
"In addition to prevention, the county is increasing funding for LifeLine's shelter operations to fully staff and operate the Pet Neighborhood at the DeKalb County Animal Services facility and to offset rising veterinary costs for shelter animals and pets in LifeLine's foster home network," the nonprofit said.
For more information about LifeLine Animal Project, click here.
