iWag, a full-service, non-profit organization has been rescuing, fostering and boarding Decatur’s dogs for 26 years. The local animal shelter has 16 dogs left in their custody that need to be adopted by Aug. 31, 2022. 

iWag currently has two locations, one in Decatur and one in West Georgia, both at high capacity. There have been tentative plans to open a new location since Mar. 2021, but it is currently up in the air and stress increased when they recently discovered that they must close the Decatur location. 

“[We] have been met with several major roadblocks and we are currently working to [decrease] the difficulty,” iWag executive director Kristie Wilder says, “The current [Decatur] building is facing demolition in the fall, leaving the dogs with no place to stay.” Though Wilder notes that their landlord has been very fair and gracious, this situation occurred due to events outside of both of their control. 

Due to the sudden complications, the shelter needs help from the community. “With Atlanta’s high cost of housing and economy on the verge of a recession, the timing couldn’t be worse. We receive 15-20 calls daily from people wanting to surrender their pets,” Wilder says.

The initial campaign to find the remaining dogs new homes began in July and is still active. The Decatur community has responded to the call, but there are still dogs in need of home-especially senior dogs. Decatur residents can help the shelter and its dogs in multiple ways, the most important being spreading the word, volunteering to walk dogs, volunteering at weekend events, fostering and of course- adopting. 

“The service and staff were so amazing and you could tell the animals were well cared for,” iWag volunteer Emmy Porter says. 

The welfare of the animals is the main priority for iWag, which, until further notice, is offering heavily discounted prices for adoption and adoption with training.

Visit the iWag website at http://iwag.org/ or contact directly for more information at [email protected].