Gwinnett County Animal Shelter

I wasn’t treated well when I went there to do a good deed, surrender a stray that I found wandering in the middle of the street and was nearly hit by a huge truck twice. The intake officer was extremely rude and accused me of being a liar. The dog was extremely calm and friendly and bonded easily with me, so he assumed the dog was mine and I was trying to surrender it without having to pay the owner surrender fee. I told him multiple times that this was not the case, but he continued to behave like a jerk and was unrelenting. I left in tears. I only wanted to make sure that this sweet little guy was safe and found a good home. Even though I have my hands full with the dog I already have, I have decided that if no one claims him, I will return to adopt him. The workers I had contact with did not seem to care about the animals and were annoyed with the people bringing in animals that need help. I would encourage anyone who wants a pet to adopt a rescue animal, but for surrendering animals, I would suggest any other organization besides this one.

Very nice and helpful staff. The adoption process was a little convoluted and I had to go back four times. First visit I looked at some dogs and spent time with the one I was interested in, but they put dogs into a holding period before making them available for adoption (I assume to make sure the previous owner won’t come claim them), so I had to come back. Then I had to place an overnight hold on the dog. The next day, I came in and paid my adoption fees and filled out paperwork. Then, the freak Atlanta snowstorm hit… but the staff were nice and communicative throughout the process. I picked up my new friend after the snow melted and brought her home.
They do have a larger variety of dogs compared to other shelters in Atlanta that are almost all pit mixes (nothing against pits, but they’re not the right breed for everyone). The website shows photos of the available dogs, so you can decide if you’re interested in any of them before driving over.
Adoption fees were under $ 100 including spay/​neuter and rabies shots.

They are understaffed and are probably under funded. Unfortunately, they do have to put some dogs to sleep– possibly because he/​she has been there too long, has medical problems (some of which could be fixed with a simple Vet visit), or is unsuitable for adoption (such as aggression problems). With that being said, the staff is helpful and appears to sincerely care about their jobs and the animals that they save and/​or house. Many of these animals would have been left on the street. We have adopted two fur family members from this shelter and found another family to adopt one of their other dogs. Dog rescue groups will also go there to get some of their dogs that they re-​adopt out (this assists the shelter and community.) If you are looking for a dog or cat to become a part of your family this is definitely a Great Place to go. You can visit their website to review the potential addition or additions to your family. If you go to visit the potential pet you can only visit with one or two dogs during a visit. This is too protect the dogs. The adoption and neutering fees are very reasonable. They also take/​need donations. I give them four stars because I wish they had medical care and more support from the community for the animals that need simple treatment to fix a curable contagious condition-​such as ring worm– versus having to often times put them to sleep.
If you want a new fury family member to love this is the place.