In the past two years, the DeKalb Animal Shelter has been transformed. Once the shelter was a shameful place where 85% of the 8,000 animals taken in each year were euthanized, this after spending the last few days of their lives in deplorable conditions. Such cruelty has given way to a place where a remarkable 85% of the animals leave alive on their way to a caring home! Under the leadership of the Board of Commissioners (including then-Commissioner Lee May), DeKalb County has made great strides by securing the services of LifeLine Animal Project to run the shelter, as well as promising to build a new world class shelter to replace our current obsolete and run down structure.

Despite these past actions, the proposed reallocation of RZB funds designated to fund the new shelter as well as newly placed cost limitations on the design capacity suggest that the commitment made by our Interim CEO Lee May and the County Commissioners to build a new shelter with adequate space is seriously eroding. To move forward in the current state would reverse the significant, nationally recognized progress DeKalb has made.