Dog adoption fees waived at Oct. 25 Buckhead event

Fulton County Animal Services will waive all dog adoption fees at a special event Sunday, Oct. 25, at Fetch Park Buckhead.

Commissioner Dana Barrett is partnering with the shelter and LifeLine Animal Project, the nonprofit that manages the county facility, to host the event from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 309 Buckhead Ave. NE, according to a Fulton County Government Instagram post. Visitors can meet adoptable dogs and talk with shelter staff.

The fee waiver saves adopters $85 per dog. Every adopted animal comes with vaccinations, spay/neuter surgery and microchipping, services Fulton County Animal Services says would cost $250 or more through a private veterinarian, according to the county's website.

Johns Creek contracts with Fulton County for animal control services under an intergovernmental agreement, so shelter overcrowding directly affects animals picked up in Johns Creek.

The shelter has struggled with crowding for years. A Johns Creek city ordinance noted that impounded dogs housed by Fulton County Animal Services rose from 343 in January 2022 to 627 by May 2023. As of Sept. 3, the Fulton County facility held 375 dogs against a capacity of 407, LifeLine Animal Project spokesperson Timkya Artist told Rough Draft Atlanta in a Sept. 7 report.

That leaves a margin of 32 dogs.

Volunteer Hilary Phillips, who has advocated for dogs held in the shelter during criminal court cases, told WABE in August that capacity-based euthanasia lists would not have existed "if those court case dogs were not there." At one point over the summer, a LifeLine staff member told WABE the shelter held 42 court-case dogs, and only seven had been placed in foster homes. LifeLine said it costs about $40 a day to care for each shelter animal.

In August, Fulton County commissioners voted 5-0 to direct the county attorney's office to establish a process with LifeLine Animal Project for filing cost-of-care petitions within two weeks of an animal being seized, WABE reported.

The county has not said how many dogs will be available for adoption at the Oct. 25 event.