Free dog leashes available at fire stations

DeKalb County Animal Services and Enforcement is offering free dog leashes to pet owners in an attempt to reduce the number of calls it receives about stray and roaming dogs.

Animal Services has purchased 2,600 leashes and has placed 100 leashes in each of the 26 DeKalb County Fire Rescue stations. The leashes will be given out on a first-come, first-served basis to dog owners beginning Sept. 14.

Animal Services receives approximately 1,000 calls for service per month, with 80 percent of those calls being for stray and roaming animals.

“We want to reduce that statistic by making these free leashes accessible,” said Xan Rawls, director of DeKalb County Animal Services and Enforcement. “Hopefully, dog owners will restrain their dogs and help us reduce the number of stray and roaming dogs impounded.”

Animal Services encourages dog owners to ensure that all pets have identification tags, collars or microchips with the owner’s correct contact information.

Whenever practical, if a dog is identified by identification tag or microchip, Animal Services will try to return the dog to its home rather than impound it.

For a list of DeKalb County Fire Rescue stations, go to www. dekalbcountyga.gov/fire and click “Fire Stations and Facilities.”