When I lived in Atlanta a few years ago, I was lucky enough to adopt two amazing kittens from an organization called Furkids, which is Georgia’s largest no-kill animal shelter. Furkids was born in 2002 when a young woman named Samantha Shelton rescued a stray mother cat with kittens, but was unable to find a shelter that would take them in.
From their website:
- We operate Georgia’s largest no-kill cage-free cat shelter, housing 275+ cats per day.
- In 2011, Furkids began managing SmallDog Rescue and caring for hundreds of small dogs yearly at another shelter location in Alpharetta, GA.
- Hundreds of additional cats and dogs are cared for in our extensive foster care network.
- We operate a house exclusively for FIV+ cats.
- Day-to-day operations across the organization are carried out largely by over 400 volunteers.
- Since our inception, we have rescued over 8,000 animals.
- We spay/neuter every animal that we rescue.
- We offer volunteer opportunities for children and teenagers.
- Proceeds from our successful thrift shop help with the cost of caring for our animals.
- We partner with 13 area PetSmart and Petco stores to adopt out our cats, housing an average of 180 cats at these locations.
- We have earned 8 consecutive Best in America Seal of Excellence awards by Independent Charities of America.
As anyone who knows me knows, animals turn my heart to mush. I’ve donated a lot of time and money to animal rescues, but Furkids remains my favorite, and not just because they gave me Rumi and Lulu (the amazing kittens), but because the people of Furkids are, well, happy (and dedicated and tireless and passionate), and they love what they do.
Here’s a video they made recently with volunteers and staff. You can also watch more than 500 Furkids YouTube videos, follow them on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook!
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