North Fulton Animal Shelter to Host Open House on Saturday

The Atlanta Humane Society (AHS) will give the public a preview of its future North Fulton animal shelter on Saturday with an event that promises to be a "carnival-like" affair.

Food, live entertainment, tours and a microchipping clinic are on the agenda, and there will also be kiddie pools and water to help hot dogs cool off since the family pet is welcome, too.

"We're looking forward to having everyone come," said Carl Leveridge, AHS president. "Everything is free. We just want to introduce ourselves to the community, let everyone know how we will work for them and they can work with us."

He added that the future shelter, a former car dealership on Mansell Road that sits on some seven acres and is about 50,000 square feet, will be open for tours and also as a place where the community and their pets can come inside and escape the hot temperatures.

Leveridge said animal rescue groups are welcome to set up and hold adoptions at the community day, as well, and that AHS plans to host rescue groups at more events once the facility opens later this year.

Deborah Smith-Callahan, a Johns Creek resident who serves as cat coordinator for animal rescue group Angels Among Us, said her group will be at the event on Saturday. "We'll have our first kittens of the season," she said.

Once the facility opens, it will, in effect, double the resources of the AHS shelter in Midtown. The Mansell campus will have 56 indoor dog kennel runs, 32 suites that can house three to five puppies, four cat rooms that can hold up to eight cats each, and 60 condos for individual cats. AHS projects that the Mansell campus will place some 5,600 pets in homes in its first year.

The Atlanta Humane Society's Community Day is Saturday, June 4, from 3 to 7 p.m. at 1565 Mansell Road, Alpharetta. For more information, visit the AHS website at www.atlantahumane.org.