Location
Their Work
Furkids was founded in 2002 by Samantha Shelton. Samantha was compelled to start a no-kill shelter after finding a stray mother cat with her kittens and was unable to locate a shelter to take them. Now, Furkids is the largest cage-free cat shelter in Georgia. The organization’s main goals are to provide a cage-free, no-kill shelter environment, to find permanent, loving homes for all its animals, promote spay and neuter, and educate its community about Georgia’s animal overpopulation problems.
A unique organization that is run almost entirely by volunteers, Furkids has only two full-time employees and more than 100 active volunteers. Furkids uses a special combination of foster homes and its 5,000 sq foot cat facility to help both dogs and cats live in the best environments possible. More than 3,000 animals have found permanent homes thanks to the efforts of Furkids.
Furkids also is one of the only animal rescue organizations in Georgia that has the capability to rescue and house FIV positive (FIV+) cats. Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) is a type of virus called a retro virus. This virus is of the same family as Feline Leukemia (FeLV) and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) or the human virus that causes AIDS. In their cage-free, no-kill shelter space, it has dedicated a special room to housing FIV positive cats. Furkids wants everyone to learn that FIV is not a death sentence for cats. In fact, adopting an FIV cat is virtually the same as adopting any other cat. FIV cats are affectionate, beautiful, funny, playful and special in their own unique ways.
One adoptee, Kellie, wrote Furkids shortly after adopting an FIV+ cat to share her success story and say thank you. She said, “I adopted Santiago about nine months ago. He is FIV+ and I have another FIV negative cat Smoke – who is 18 years old. They play rough sometimes, but are best friends in the world and share their meals, toys and bed! Santiago has an amazing personality and is pushing 18 pounds! Both kitties are in wonderful health and I urge anyone looking to adopt a kitty to have no fear of FIV+ cats or bringing one home to join your additional pets. These special kitties need homes too!! Santiago has been nothing but a joy and will be celebrating his 2nd birthday very soon.”
SPCA International commends Furkids for its dedication to its cat and dog community, and especially the FIV+ cat community. We are proud to honor it as SPCA International’s Shelter of the Week. If you would like to learn more about this exceptional shelter or donate to it directly, please visit http://www.furkids.org.in/.