Kennesaw animal shelter loses parking lot to road widening project; their race to raise funds

KENNESAW, Ga. - A road widening is forcing a local animal shelter to make some crucial changes. 

Mostly Mutts has been rescuing pups and finding their forever homes from their location in Kennesaw for almost a decade. Now, the city is about to begin a major road widening project on Cherokee Street, right in front of the shelter, to improve the flow of traffic.

"It's pretty necessary around here, we understand why. But, the problem is when they do the road construction, it's going to take most of our parking and green space," said Kelley Long with Mostly Mutts.

The city paid Mostly Mutts for the land that's being taken away. The shelter put that money toward buying the property right next door and soon realized they'd need $250,000 to build a parking lot and outdoor exercise area for the dogs.

"Parking lots can be very expensive. Drainage, civil engineers, all of those things," said Long. 

Mostly Mutts is currently trying to raise money to complete that project before construction on the road begins in the spring.

"If we don't have the parking and everything set aside, we won't be able to take in new animals during that construction. We want to keep operating as a shelter during that time," said Long. 

Once Mostly Mutts has the parking issue solved, they have even bigger plans for the building on the new property. They want to transform into a spay and neuter clinic. 

"There's not currently one in Cobb County. One of the biggest reasons animal control is so overcrowded are unwanted litters, and this is going to help control that problem," said Long. 

Mostly Mutts says thanks to a generous gift, every dollar donated from now until Tuesday will be matched. Anyone who wants to help out can donate on their website.