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Athens-Clarke animal shelter on the lookout for volunteers to foster puppies, cats

Athens-Clarke animal shelter on the lookout for volunteers to foster puppies, cats
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Kristall Barber, animal services director for Athens-Clarke County, cuddles with Tsunami, who had contracted parvovirus resulting in a shelter quarantine, on Friday, Aug. 6, 2021. Tsunami has fully recovered and is available for adoption.

Athens’ animal shelter is overflowing with cats and pet dogs through a seasonal spike that has swelled the facility to around capability.

Athens-Clarke County Animal Services operates a shelter for surrendered and stray animals, primarily cats and canine. The shelter has 53 cages for pet dogs and as of Friday, they experienced 55 puppies, which includes a mom and eight puppies, who were not in a cage but remaining retained in a independent home.

The shelter also has approximately 200 cats and kittens accessible for adoption, 90 of which are in foster households, and the remaining 100 at the facility on Buddy Christian Way. There are around 15 canines in foster care as effectively.

Spring and summer time usually see a spike in animals at the shelter, Kristall Barber, ACC animal products and services director, defined. Also, far more kittens and puppies tend to be born then.

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Barber also suspects the improve in animals is owing to far more proprietor surrenders than normal. Even though there is the phenomenon of “pandemic pets” — or animals adopted in the course of the COVID-19 quarantine — Barber explained most of the animals adopted in the course of that time have luckily for us not returned to the shelter. 

Kittens available for adoption at the Athens-Clarke animal shelter on Friday, Aug. 6, 2021. The shelter is reaching capacity and hosting an adoption event Saturday.

The shelter is now scheduling surrenders two to 4 weeks out, asking the house owners to hold on for a little whilst so that they can clear out the animals they by now have. 

“We’re making an attempt to notify folks, ‘Listen, can you maintain on to it for a number of weeks? We you should not have space enable us get a few cages so that we can have your animal here and you really don’t have to make any other choices,’” explained Barber.