FAYETTE COUNTY, Ga. — Fayette County opened a new animal shelter last week. Community members said while they've been waiting a while for a new shelter, this isn't the answer they were hoping to get.
A top concern: the animals do not have enough space.
"They don't want to be in their excrement all day," said Dr. Jennifer Alvarez. "So they should have an area to rest and eat and a separate compartment where they can go to the bathroom."
Cynthia Saracino echoed her concerns.
"Yeah. It was heartbreaking. It was hard," she said.
Saracino added the images she first saw on social media were tough to take in.
"But then when I went inside, it was a lot more sad. The dogs were actually in three-by-four boxes," she said.
Saracino said the County came in and "revamped" the shelter on Monday. It also issued a statement which said:
Fayette County heard the community’s concerns and implemented a solution. Staff removed the wall separating adjacent kennels, along with the kennel separating wall to create a L-shaped large kennel. This allows enough space for a medium or large dog to have a bed, water and move around before they are adopted. Additionally, staff removed the kennel separating wall in the smaller kennel to double their living space. This reduces the total number of kennels from 32 to 24, which is still 50% more space than what was in our previous kennel. There is overflow capacity in the isolation room that contains 10 larger kennels used primarily for isolation and observation. The overall kennel can be “right-sized” up or down with by existing staff based upon our capacity needs at the shelter. Our focus will now shift to implementing the additional on-sight improvements for walking trails and a livestock building. Fayette County remains committed to working with the community, animal advocate partners and volunteers to ensure we have a master plan that meets our growing needs in the future.
However, both Saracino and Alvarez believe more needs to be done.
"No, it's not enough," Alvarez said. "Again, we're missing the very basic and primary requirements that thousands of studies have shown are necessary to keep their physical and mental quality of life. And those are not being met right now, even with the modifications that were done."
"We need walking trails, we need a play area," Saracino explained. "We need room for a dog to be a dog."
Alvarez added she hopes community members show up to the Board of Commissioners meeting at 5 p.m. on Tuesday.