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Furkids’ Mission:
- To provide a cage-free, no-kill shelter for our rescued animals where they can experience the best care in a loving environment until they are adopted.
- To find permanent, loving, homes for all our rescued animals.
- To inform the public about pet overpopulation, promote sterilization, and provide information for low-cost high-quality spay/neuter services.
Furkids’ History:
2002 – 2004
Founder Samantha Shelton finds a stray mother cat with kittens. Unable to find a shelter that will take them in, she establishes Furkids. We begin as a network of foster homes conducting adoptions through the Petsmart Perimeter location. We rescue 216 animals in our first year. In our second year, we are invited to manage the PetSmart Smyrna location.
 2005
Furkids signs the lease on our current main shelter and begins the buildout on the 5,000 square foot facility that will eventually house up to 275 cats on a daily basis. The shelter allows us to increase the number of cats and kittens we can rescue and provides a colorful, cage-free, one-of-a-kind environment for our cats.
2006-2007
We celebrate the grand opening of our shelter and additional adoption centers are established with PetSmart Midtown and PetSmart Northlake, bringing our collaboration with PetSmart to four stores. In 2007, Furkids celebrates five years, and Ms. Shelton, Founder and Executive Director, receives a commendation letter from Governor Sonny Perdue congratulating Furkids on our success and important service to the community.
2008
 We celebrate our 5,000th adoption! We build an in-house spay/neuter surgical suite and hire a part-time veterinarian. We partner with our 5th PetSmart store at the Mall of Georgia, and we open our FIV House, a stand-alone facility to exclusively house our FIV+ cats.
2009
We establish a benchmark of caring for 450 cats, as well as many dogs, on a daily basis. We begin a new partnership with PETCO, managing their in-store adoption programs at their Holcomb Bridge and Edgewood locations. We establish Cat’s Meow Marketplace, now known as the Furkids Thrift Store, a store we own and operate to generate funds to care for the hundreds of animals in our care.
2010
We place approximately 620 cats into loving homes and celebrate our 6,000th adoption! We earn our 6th consecutive Best in America Seal of Excellence award, solidifying our rank as a top local community charity by Independent Charities of America. In its November 2010 “Pets!” issue, Atlanta Magazine names us among the leading animal shelters in Georgia.
 2011
We acquire and assume total responsibility for the management and operation of Small Dog Rescue and Humane Society, founded in 1995 and dedicated to finding loving families for homeless dogs in Georgia. The union of the organizations greatly extends the reach of Furkids, expanding operations to include the rescue, no-kill care, and adoption of both homeless cats and dogs.
2012
Furkids celebrates our 10th anniversary! We add a tenth adoption center at the Buckhead Petsmart and we close the year adding two Petco adoption centers in Smyrna and Buckhead – for a total of 12 full-time adoption centers throughout Georgia!
2013 Goals
In 2013, we will focus on increasing volunteers at all adoption centers, realizing more adoptions and saving more animals. We are hopeful to renovate the 34 year old building that is our dog shelter, hire a week-day kennel tech and expand operations. We also want to build on the success of our thrift store by opening a second location.
Furkids’ Long-Term Goals:
Our long range vision is to create a peaceful, unique destination, carved out of nature, where visitors can walk dogs along a nature trail, play with cats in their indoor/outdoor home, enjoy tranquility in a memorial garden, and all of our animals can experience sunlight and fresh air. Our stand-alone shelter would also include a low-cost, high-quality spay/neuter clinic open to the public.
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