North Fulton Animal Shelter to Host Open House on Saturday

The Atlanta Humane Society  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."

The future shelter, a former car dealership on Mansell Road in Alpharetta sits on some seven acres and is about 50,000 square feet. It will be open for tours of the space, on Saturday. And renderings will be on display.

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

Renovations on the shelter begin in mid-June and is expected to be complete by Thanksgiving. 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.