Community Corner

Call to Action for Animals

Letter to the Editor from animal advocate Ashley Derrick.

Pet overpopulation, abuse, neglect and abandonment are at an all-time high in Dekalb County. The majority of Dekalb residents are not aware of the crisis nor the shortfall in the so-called "animal services" provided by our county government. The animals need for you to know their plight... for everyone in Dekalb to know.
 
After more than a decade of complaints to elected officials from members of the local animal rescue community, our CEO [Burrell Ellis] and Board of Commissioners ["BOC"] finally responded by creating the Animal Services Task Force in early 2011.  The Task Force spent several months doing research and presented its findings and recommendations to the CEO and BOC in October [see Powerpoint presentation attached]. To date, CEO Ellis and the BOC have done nothing to put a plan in action to address the animal crisis we have in Dekalb.  We need to light a fire under them, and that's why I'm writing to you today and asking you to recruit all your friends and neighbors in Dekalb.  Theoretically, elected officials respond to the complaints and requests of their constituents [that's you!]. We need to bombard them with emails from thousands of their constituents from every part Dekalb County!
 
I'm asking you to do four things:  1) email your CEO and Commissioners asking them to address this crisis immediately; 2) sign our Change.org petition; 3) forward this email to everyone you know in Dekalb; and 4) attend one of the upcoming Townhall meetings [see list of meetings at the bottom of this message] to speak on behalf of the animals in our shelter, living stray on our streets or living neglected and abused in bad homes. 
 
We're asking our CEO and BOC for two things: 1) build a new shelter and 2) restore the animal services budget to $3.2 million, rather than the current proposal of $2.7 million.
 
BUILD A NEW SHELTER:
 
DeKalb County has one of the oldest shelters in the state, and our shelter is the oldest facility currently in use in Dekalb County. Due to space limitations, our shelter euthanizes over 60% (approx 5,000) of the animals every year, and another 10% die in the shelter or are unaccounted for. The shelter is dirty, covered in black mold, has poor drainage which results in standing water at all times, is infested with roaches and rats, has no heat or air conditioning, has no hot water for disinfecting, and is plagued by poor insulation, poor air quality and sick animals. If you visited the shelter, as I did recently, you'd be overwhelmed by the stench and crowded cages. It is not a pleasant experience nor one I want to repeat if I can avoid it.
 
I have witnessed, first-hand, many puppies "pulled" from our shelter in recent months by rescue organizations [including myself] coming down with the deadly parvo virus within days of leaving the shelter. Some of these puppies are treated and survive, but it costs rougly $1,000 per puppy for the treatment, and non-profit rescue groups are devastated by this expense on very tight budgets. Rescuers have found puppies already dead, probably from parvo, in their cages in the shelter. Parvo, upper respiratory infection, ringworm and other illnesses are rampant in our shelter and cannot be stopped because of the standing water, lack of hot water for disinfection and poor air quality and circulation.
 
In the summer, temperatures in the shelter soar into the 90's. Animals die from the heat. Roaches swarm the food bowls before the animals can even eat.
 
Our shelter is not safe, healthy or adequate for animals, much less the employees working in it. We need a shelter that is safe and healthy for the thousands of animals entering it every year and that is comfortable and inviting for residents and families [with children] to go to adopt a pet. Our shelter is not a place anyone wants to visit, which is why adoptions are shamefully low [only 8%!!]. Nor is our shelter a place where anyone, like you, wants to take a stray dog or cat they've found. Why would you, when you know the chances of that animal making it out alive are slim-to-none? 
 
Imagine the day when you can take a stray animal to our Dekalb County shelter with the certainty it will be safe and eventually adopted, rather than the certainty it will be destroyed! After all, isn't that the service a county "shelter" is supposed to provide?!
 
RESTORE OR INCREASE THE ANIMAL SERVICES BUDGET:
 
Adding insult to injury, the CEO’s budget proposal for 2012 shows a 12% reduction in resources for Animal Services, a reduction much larger than other departments  ...down from $3.2 million to the current proposal of $2.7 million. While some might cite a need to reduce expenses as a rationale, Animal Services is already under-staffed and under-resourced, the principle reason conditions and outcomes are so poor. This cut is ridiculous in that the budget for animal services is 1/2 of 1% of the entire county budget. Given the extraordinary need for animal services in our county, the proposed reduction is ridiculous!
 
Did you know that in 2010, there were 16 animal control officers in the field, and now there are only 8 officers working in the field. Why? Because our CEO and BOC have not given the funds to replace officers who've resigned. The kennel has only 9 employees to feed, clean, exercise and socialize nearly 400 animals every day! And just one person handles ALL the adoptions, rescue group outreach, web/Petfinder postings and volunteer coordination. It's no wonder only 8% of the animals in our shelter are adopted!!
 
For example, a Dekalb resident told me that a field officer said to her last week [paraphrasing], "I can't help you anymore [catching a stray dog in her Clarkston neighborhood]. We're murdering more dogs than ever, and we can't even feed the ones we have in the shelter."   If our elected officials aren't going to do anything to curb the extreme overpopulation of pets we have in Dekalb.... if they're not going to require all pets be spayed/neutered and they're not going to crack down on backyard breeders and thugs selling pit bull puppies by the thousands, the majority of whom die of parvo [because they're sold to people, mostly kids, who don't know the importance of or cannot afford vaccines] or are abandoned or abused before they reach a year old... then they absolutely need to provide a shelter adequate to handle the sheer volume of discarded pets and enough administrative staff, kennel staff and field officers to handle the sheer volume of calls and complaints, to care for 400 animals in the shelter every day, to catch all the stray animals in the field and to respond to the hundreds of cruelty and neglect cases reported every year. They can't continue to provide neither, right? Because we're not going to tolerate it any longer!
 
If you've read enough to be thoroughly disgusted, get started now being part of the change we're fighting for in Dekalb!  Here's how....
 
SIGN THE PETITION:   http://www.change.org/petitions/dekalb-county-needs-a-new-animal-shelter
 
 ...and friend us on Facebook ["Dekalb Initiative"]   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003397271708 

EMAIL CEO ELLIS AND YOUR [2] COMMISSIONERS
 
Everyone should include CEO Burrell Ellis on your email letter.   His address is:  wbellis@dekalbcountyga.gov
 
Below is a list of cities and communities with the email addresses for those commissioners.  We all have two commissioners -- a district commissioner and a "Super District" Commissioner, either Kathie Gannon or Stan Watson.  If you don't see your city or community on the list below, go to the BOC website to determine who is your commissoiner:  http://www.co.dekalb.ga.us/boc/   [hover over "About the BOC' and select "Detailed District Map"].   The content of your email is not critical. ..what matters is that CEO Elllis and every Commissioner receive HUNDREDS of emails from their constituents. You can say as little or as much as you like. If you want to keep it quick and simple, just say something like "I'm writing to let you know I support the Animal Services Task Force's recommendations for a new shelter and budget restored to $3.2 million or increased to meet the demand created by irresponsible pet owners in Dekalb County. I am requesting you take action immediately to address the animal services crisis in Dekalb."    Be sure you include your name, street address and zip code so your Commisioners can be certain you are their constituent.  
Avondale:   Sharon Barnes Sutton and Kathie Gannon  sbsutton@dekalbcountyga.gov; kgannon@dekalbcountyga.gov Candler Park/Lake Claire:   Jeff Rader and Kathie Gannon  jrader@dekalbcountyga.gov; kgannon@dekalbcountyga.gov
Chamblee:   Elaine Boyer and Kathie Gannon  ecboyer@dekalbcountyga.gov; kgannon@dekalbcountyga.gov
Clarkston:    Sharon Barnes Sutton and Kathie Gannon  sbsutton@dekalbcountyga.gov; kgannon@dekalbcountyga.gov
Decatur:   Jeff Rader and Kathie Gannon  jrader@dekalbcountyga.gov; kgannon@dekalbcountyga.gov
Dunwoody:   Elaine Boyer and Kathie Gannon  ecboyer@dekalbcountyga.gov; kgannon@dekalbcountyga.gov
East Atlanta/Key Road:   Larry Johnson and Kathie Gannon  larryjohnson@dekalbcountyga.gov; kgannon@dekalbcountyga.gov
East Lake:   Larry Johnson and Kathie Gannon  larryjohnson@dekalbcountyga.gov; kgannon@dekalbcountyga.gov
Emory/Druid Hills:   Jeff Rader and Kathie Gannon  jrader@dekalbcountyga.gov; kgannon@dekalbcountyga.gov
Gresham Park:   Larry Johnson and Kathie Gannon  larryjohnson@dekalbcountyga.gov; kgannon@dekalbcountyga.gov
Kirkwood:   Larry Johnson and Kathie Gannon  larryjohnson@dekalbcountyga.gov; kgannon@dekalbcountyga.gov
Medlock Park/North Druid Woods:   Jeff Rader and Kathie Gannon  jrader@dekalbcountyga.gov; kgannon@dekalbcountyga.gov
Midway Woods:   Larry Johnson and Kathie Gannon  larryjohnson@dekalbcountyga.gov; kgannon@dekalbcountyga.gov
Northlake:  Jeff Rader and Kathie Gannon  jrader@dekalbcountyga.gov; kgannon@dekalbcountyga.gov
Oakhurst:   Jeff Rader and Kathie Gannon  jrader@dekalbcountyga.gov; kgannon@dekalbcountyga.gov
Pine Lake:   Sharon Barnes Sutton and Stan Watson  sbsutton@dekalbcountyga.gov; stanwatson@dekalbcountyga.gov
Scottdale:    Sharon Barnes Sutton and Kathie Gannon  sbsutton@dekalbcountyga.gov; kgannon@dekalbcountyga.gov
Smoke Rise:   Elaine Boyer and Stan Watson  ecboyer@dekalbcountyga.gov; stanwatson@dekalbcountyga.gov
Stone Mountain:  Sharon Barnes Sutton and Stan Watson  sbsutton@dekalbcountyga.gov; stanwatson@dekalbcountyga.gov
Tucker:   Elaine Boyer and Stan Watson  ecboyer@dekalbcountyga.gov; stanwatson@dekalbcountyga.gov
Valley Brook:   Larry Johnson and Kathie Gannon  larryjohnson@dekalbcountyga.gov; kgannon@dekalbcountyga.gov
Winnona Park:   Jeff Rader and Kathie Gannon  jrader@dekalbcountyga.gov; kgannon@dekalbcountyga.gov
  ATTEND ONE OR MORE OF CEO ELLIS' TOWNHALL MEETINGS:  [all meetings 7:00-8:30pm]
 

  • Tuesday, January 24, from 7 to 8:30 PM, at the Cedar Grove High School, 2360 River Road, Ellenwood, GA 30294. For a map, click here.
    • Tuesday, January 31, from 7 to 8:30 PM, at the Ashford Park Elementary School, 2968 Cravenridge Drive NE, Atlanta, GA 30319.. For a map, click here.
    • Tuesday, February 7, from 7 to 8:30 PM, at the Stonecrest Library, 3123 Klondike Road, Lithonia, GA 30038. For a map, click here. For a map, click here.
    • Thursday, February 9, from 7 to 8:30 PM, Dunwoody Baptist Church, 1445 Mt. Vernon Road, Dunwoody, 30338. For a map, click here.
    • Thursday, February 16, from 7 to 8:30 PM, at the St. Timothy United Methodist Church (in the sanctuary), 5365 Memorial Drive, Stone Mountain, GA 30083. For a map, click here.
    • Tuesday, February 21, from 7 to 8:30 PM, at the Stephenson High School, 701 Stephenson Road, Stone Mountain, GA 30087. For a map, click here.
    • Wednesday, February 29, from 7 to 8:30 PM, at the Torah Day School of Atlanta, 1985 LaVista Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30329. For a map, click here.
    • Tuesday, March 13, from 7 to 8:30 PM, at the Eastlake Family YMCA, 275 E Lake Boulevard SE, Atlanta, GA 30317. For a map, click here.
    • Thursday, March 15, from 7 to 8:30 PM, at the Center For Pan Asian Community Services, 3510 Shallowford Road, Atlanta, GA 30341. For a map, click here.
    • Tuesday, March 20, from 7 to 8:30 PM, at the Lou Walker Senior Center, 2538 Panola Road, Lithonia, GA 30058. For a map, click here.
    • Tuesday, March 27, from 7 to 8:30 PM, at the , 5036 LaVista Road, Tucker, GA 30084. For a map, click here.

    Ashley Derrick
    Realtor and Animal Advocate

    www.ashleyderrickrealestate.com
    www.atlantaresponsibully.com
    www.randomatlanta.com


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