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Using Halloween candy to encourage dog adoption
Representatives with Lifeline Animal Services say each day two more animals arrive than leave the shelter. Volunteers hope unique cards for Halloween candy will help change that.
FULTON COUNTY, Ga. - As Halloween approaches, volunteers at the Fulton County Animal Shelter have come up with a unique way to raise awareness about dogs in the shelter.
Representatives with Lifeline Animal Services say each day two more animals arrive than leave the shelter. Volunteers hope unique cards for Halloween candy will help change that.
"We've highlighted 100 of our longest terms dogs in the shelter to focus on, and we've actually created little cards for each of the dogs," said Jennifer Rose, a volunteer and foster.
Rose and others have attached those cards to candy and have others for people to attach to their own Halloween treats.
The goal is to raise awareness about adoption and fostering dogs at the shelter.
"We want people to want to learn more. So even for folks who aren't in a position that they're not necessarily looking to adopt today there are lots of opportunities to get involved," said Rose. "You can volunteer in the shelter, there are opportunities to volunteer remotely, you can become a foster parent. Dogs are family animals they don't want to live here they want to be in homes."
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This comes as both the Futon County and DeKalb County shelter deal with overcrowding.
Right now, Fulton County has 360 dogs, with a capacity of 300. DeKalb County's numbers are even higher with the shelter housing 563 dogs.
In a letter this week, Lifeline's CEO said they need to get the number of dogs at the DeKalb County shelter down to 450 in the next 60 days through adoption, foster, rescue transfers or euthanasia to improve shelter conditions.
Volunteers hope the cards will encourage the community to help.
"We learn so much about the dogs when they're in a foster home that even when they come back it helps make them more adoptable since we know more about them," Rose said.
For more information on how you can get some of these cards, email enrichmentelves@gmail.com.