Report claims animal shelter euthanized pets too soon - Atlanta News, Weather, Traffic, and Sports | FOX 5

A task force investigation report has made serious allegations about the Gwinnett County Animal Shelter.

The report claims the shelter was too quick to euthanize dogs and cats, and that animals were killed to save space, even though cages sat empty.
        
Susan Ruell is one of several former shelter volunteers now running a Facebook page where they post photos of shelter pets in an effort to get them adopted.  The page is also serves as a watchdog to keep an independent record of what's happening to the animals.

"When you get back the notification that they were put to sleep, your heart just drops," said Ruell.

Ruelle's heart dropped even further when she heard the initial results of a task force that the county commission organized to investigate shelter procedures.

The task force found that, for three weeks in April, for instance dogs were euthanized even though 52, 55 and 68 percent of shelter cages were empty.

When the task force asked why the euthanized dogs weren't moved to the empty cages, the report says shelter leaders told them that they need empty cages for the cleaning process, and they keep some cages empty for incoming dogs.

The task force replied, "Our inquiries about why dogs are put to death when space is available, have met with two replies, neither of which is acceptable."

"We're talking about living beings. They can't speak for themselves, they rely on us totally for help. So something has to be done," said Ruelle.

The final task force report is expected in the next couple of weeks. Sources told FOX 5's Chris Shaw that it will likely recommend new leadership at the shelter and new guidelines on euthanizing animals.

The Gwinnett County Police -- the agency that runs the shelter -- and the Gwinnett County Commissioners declined comment because of a separate, ongoing, internal investigation of the shelter.