Adoptable Georgia Dogs for February 10, 2014

Dixie Dog Rescue in Vidalia, Georgia is asking for donations to help with some veterinary bills associated with dogs they have rescued. Their goal is to raise $1500 in the next 24 days. Please click here to join us in supporting Dixie Dog Rescue with an online donation. As little as $2 or $5 will help them reach their goal and continue saving dogs.

Sonny and Molly are just a couple of plain old Georgia Hound dogs. Dogs like them meet their death on the roads and in shelters across Georgia every day. These two had the good luck to find their way to Dixie Dog Rescue, where they have been best friends. Sonny or Molly may be adopted separately, or if you’d like a home full of love and hound dogs, they’d be great to adopt together.

Cherry is another of those brown Georgia dogs that are so easily overlooked, especially in rural Georgia. She is high-energy, loves children, and gets along with other dogs, though she does like to be in charge. Cherry is available for adoption from Dixie Dog Rescue in Vidalia, Ga.

Shorty was a porch dog – he spent most of his early life tied to someone’s front porch in rural South Georgia, but he’s looking for an indoor home now. He’s happy, affectionate and good-natured. He lets nothing get him down. Shorty is available for adoption from Dixie Dog Rescue in Vidalia, Ga.

The Gwinnett County Animal Shelter has made great strides in reducing the number of animals they euthanize and turning around their agency’s culture. We hope they will be recognized and encouraged to keep up the good work. From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

The Gwinnett County Animal Shelter, sharply criticized by a county task force for “gross mismanagement” 18 months ago, has cut its euthanasia rate nearly in half over the past five years, records show.

The 2012 report from the commission-appointed task force cited problems like animals being euthanized daily while the shelter sat mostly empty. Rescue groups were given as little as 45 minutes to find new homes for animals before they were scheduled to be euthanized. The shelter’s management was disorganized and most staff generally acted with “indifference, intolerance and apathy,” the report said.

However, Gwinnett now has one of the lowest euthanasia rates among metro area county animal shelters, according to records obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The 2013 rate was 31 percent, down from 59 percent in 2009.

“Every effort is made now not to euthanize,” said Curtis Northrup, chairman of the county’s Animal Advisory Council. “The culture is, ‘Let’s save these animals.’”

The Cobb County animal shelter’s euthanasia rate dropped from 42 percent to 36 percent over the past five years. Over the same period, its adoption rate hit 40 percent.

Last year, the nonprofit LifeLine Animal Project began operating the Fulton and DeKalb animal shelters. Fulton’s euthanasia rate dropped by nearly 40 percent after LifeLine took over in March 2013, hitting 37 percent compared with 58 percent in the same period the previous year.

The improvements in Gwinnett’s euthanasia rate have not meant a higher price tag for taxpayers. In fact, county spending on the shelter — which totaled $3 million last year — has not changed significantly in recent years, said the shelter manager, Sgt. Chip Moore. But the shelter will see a $475,000 budget increase this year as part of an overall hike in county spending.

Sergeant Chip Moore and his staff receive our highest praise and thanks for proving that doing a better job and saving lives does not have to cost more taxpayer money. Thanks to all who worked on this.