Fulton County Animal Services looking for adoptive or foster homes

Fulton County Animal Services needs fosters

Staffers at Fulton County Animal Services say there's a ''space crisis'' at their shelter, due to a high number of summer intakes.

ATLANTA - Just a few months ago, FOX 5 Atlanta reported that Fulton County Animal Services was facing one of its most severe overcrowding crises to date. 

So, in an effort to ease the problem, shelter staffers want to remind the public that fostering makes a huge difference — and doesn’t have to be a long-term commitment.

This morning on Good Day Atlanta, we spent some time at the Fulton County Animal Services shelter (which is managed by LifeLine Animal Project), meeting some of the energetic and adorable dogs inside and learning more about fostering options. Shelter staffers say summer is already a notoriously challenging time for shelters, with an increasing number of intakes — and as we reported in May, the Fulton County shelter had already exceeded its target capacity of 375 animals by more than 73 dogs after a recent court-related intake brought in 24 dogs in a single day. 

Staffers say fostering is important for two main reasons. One, it frees up much-needed space; and two, they say spending time in a loving home is important to a pet’s health. That’s why they say they offer a variety of options, including Dog for the Day (allowing people to literally take out one of the dogs for a day of fun) and Weekend Warriors (at least three days with a medium to large-sized dog). Longer-term options include what the shelter calls Fospice, which provides a loving home to a shelter pet with a terminal diagnosis.

While we focused mainly on dogs this morning — including visiting with local foster mom Jessica Erwin and seeing first-hand how the experience impacts her family — there are long-term and short-term foster options for both dogs and cats. To learn more about them, click here.