Don’t miss out our new interview with an amazing NGO based in Atlanta – LifeLine Animal Project, working on ending the euthanasia of healthy dogs & cats in Atlanta shelters as well as managing Fulton County Animal Services and the DeKalb County Animal Services shelter.
We spoke to Karen Hirsch, LifeLine’s Public Relations director who discovered a bunch of interesting facts about the organization in the interview.
Here’s one touching line to motivate you to read the interview with Karen from top to bottom:
“I’ve always been an animal lover, am passionate about helping animals and get a great deal of joy interacting with them. Being part of an organization that has saved so many lives and helped thousands of animals is incredibly rewarding to me.”
Get busy and read what Karen has to say about the work of LifeLine Animal Project and about the job she loves so passionately. To support LifeLine Animal Project, visit their web page https://lifelineanimal.org and follow them on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
Enjoy the interview!
1. To begin with, can you briefly introduce your organization and what is your organization’s main mission?
LifeLine Animal Project
To end the euthanasia of healthy and treatable pets in metro county shelters.
2. In which ways have you contributed to the local community?
We have provided over 112,350 free or low-cost spay/neuter surgeries to Atlanta pet owners since 2002.
In Fulton County, LifeLine manages animal control and enforcement, and our officers respond to over 18,000 calls each year and help fight animal neglect and cruelty. We also recognize there is a large part of our community who love and care for their pets deeply but may need assistance from time to time.
In addition to our monthly low-cost vaccine clinics which provided 2,068 low-cost vaccines to pets in 2017, we also have huge Healthy Pet events in both DeKalb and Fulton counties that the whole community is invited to. Last year 2,300 pets received free vaccinations, microchips, spay/neuter vouchers, food, leashes and more at our Healthy Pets events.
3. What was the biggest challenge your organization had to face?
LifeLine took over the management of DeKalb and Fulton County Animal Services in 2013. These shelters take in between 40 and 60 pets a day, 365 days per year. With numbers like these and a limited amount of space, our biggest challenge was and still is saving and finding homes for every animal that we possibly can. Since taking over management of the county shelters, LifeLine has increased adoptions by 300%. We have been able to save so many animals through lifesaving programs, adoption promotions, surrender counseling, outreach efforts, foster/volunteer support, and amazing rescue partnerships.
As far as struggles, there is no more direct a barrier to ending euthanasia in Atlanta than the pervasive resistance to spay/neuter within segments of the community. LifeLine will continue to target those segments of the population with outreach, education and the resources necessary to slowly change that collective mindset and continue lowering the numbers of unwanted litters.
4. What do you perceive to be your biggest accomplishment?
The number of animals that we save who are now in loving homes! LifeLine is saving 83% more lives than were saved in 2012.
5. How would you like the members of the local community to get involved with your organization?
First, instead of purchasing pets, we need more community members in Atlanta to help us save lives by adopting them. If you can’t adopt, consider fostering a pet. We offer long and short-term options for fosters, including our Weekend Warrior program, where you can pick up a dog on Friday and bring them back on Monday. We provide the food, crate, leash and “Adopt Me” vest, and you supply the love.
We also have a “Dog for a Day” program, where you can check out a dog for the day to take on an adventure or bring home and cuddle. If you can’t foster, consider joining our volunteer program, where you can walk a dog, play with a cat, bottle feed kittens and more.
Finally, consider making a donation to LifeLine. Every donation, no matter the size, helps provide care for more animals in our shelters, as well as supports our community programs that help keep pets out of the shelters and with the families who love them.
6. Do you have any upcoming events?
We have too many events coming up to list here, but they can be viewed on our website: www.LifeLineAnimal.org/events.
7. What is it that you love most about what you do?
I’ve always been an animal lover, am passionate about helping animals and get a great deal of joy interacting with them. Being part of an organization that has saved so many lives and helped thousands of animals is incredibly rewarding to me. I also see incredible stories every day. Whether it’s a formerly abused animal who is overcoming her fear of people and learning to trust, a dog who has been overlooked at the shelter finally getting the loving home they deserve, a cat who is bringing joy to his new elderly owner or a neglected pet who was never appreciated and is now someone’s service dog and best friend, I am privileged to witness these new beginnings.
8. Is there anything specific you would like to add or mention?
In order to provide people with low-cost veterinary care and provide even more adoptions, LifeLine has just launched our first capital campaign to fund a new LifeLine Community Animal Center. The new 25,000 square foot facility will feature a full-service, low-cost veterinary clinic that will be open to the public, and a premiere adoption center which will increase the adoption capacity by 2,000 annually. The goal of the Community Animal Center is to keep more animals from being surrendered to shelters by providing affordable wellness care up front while helping every adoptable animal that comes into their shelters find a forever home.
The center’s clinic will allow us to ultimately serve an additional 20,000 animals annually, while the new adoption center is expected to facilitate more than 2,000 adoptions a year.
We’ve received over $3.2 million in pledges towards the new building and are looking to the Atlanta community to help us raise the remainder of the project’s budget and make the facility a reality. To learn more about the project, view the floor plan or make a donation, please visit LifeLineAnimal.org/animalcenter.
LifeLine Dog House & Kitty Motel:
129 Lake Street, Avondale Estates
404.292.8800
Facebook
Twitter
LifeLine Cat Adoption Center:
3172 E Ponce de Leon Ave, Scottdale
404.549.8442
DeKalb County Animal Services:
3280 Chamblee Dunwoody Rd, Chamblee
404.294.2996
Fulton County Animal Services:
860 Marietta Blvd NW, Atlanta
404.613.0358
Read and support them because they deserve it! We in The Cool Roofing Company will be happy if we can make just one person to support them.
