We rescue dogs from shelters in Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee. Some dogs ended up at the shelter because they were picked up by Animal Control, some of them had been abandoned by their owners.

It is our belief that no adoptable dog should ever have to die in an Animal Control facility. Once we have accepted a dog into our program, we have made a lifelong commitment to the dog and committed ourselves to care for the dog until he/she is adopted into a permanent home.

If a dog has medical problems, SDR pays for the treatment until a recovery has been made and the dog can be put up for adoption. All of our dogs are spayed/neutered, dewormed, and current on their shots, flea and tick repellant, and heartworm preventative.

You can view our adoptables and fill out an online application, or you can come an adoption event the dogs in person, as well as fill out an application form there. Your application will be reviewed by our screeners, and you will be contacted for a personal meeting with one of our screeners. Once your application has been approved by the screeners, you will meet with our director or another member of our Board of Directors, who will finalize the adoption. The adoption fee is $250, part of which is tax-deductible. All of the money is used to pay our dogs' medical bills and day to day care.

Every Saturday from noon till 4:00 PM, we are in front of the Petco at 5938 Roswell Road N.E., Atlanta, GA 30328 (on the corner of Roswell Road and Hammond Drive). For specific directions from your home, we suggest you consult MapQuest.

We also hold adoptions at least one Sunday a month in front of the PetSmart in the North Point Shpping Center, 6370 North Point Pkwy, Alpharetta, GA. For specific directions from your home, we suggest you consult MapQuest. Check our home page for the adoption schedule. We also participate in frequent community events where you can come and meet our dogs and complete an application to adopt. Check our "News" link for some events we have attended in the past.

Each dog that comes into our program spends a prescribed amount of time in quarantine at our shelter facility. Once the dog has been vetted and is known to be free of disease and up to date on all vaccinations, we try to place him or her into a foster home. Fostering a dog is a bit like fostering a child - and is critical to the successful adoption of some dogs! The foster family provides love, nurturing and training. Dogs who have been mistreated or who have never been socialized learn that humans are in fact trust-worthy and can be loved. Dogs who have never been loved learn how wonderful a loving family can be, and learn to be happy living with humans.

By placing a dog in a foster home, we learn the likes, dislikes, and needs of that dog. This information is important when deciding on a potential forever home. We need to know does the dog do well with other animals in the home? Is he/she afraid of children? Is the dog who came to a shelter for biting REALLY a mean dog, or was the bite in response to some percieved mistreatment? This kind of information can only be discerned when the dog is in a caring nurturing home environment. Further, by placing a dog in a foster home, we make a space at our facility for another endangered dog to be rescued.

You can email our volunteer coordinator at volunteer@smalldoghumane.org, or you can come to adoptions and fill out a foster application form. Every foster home must complete a training session prior to taking a dog home. Fostering involves taking care of your foster dog just like you would care for your own dog. You are also responsibile for getting your dog to adoptions on Saturdays in order for him/her to be seen by potential adopters.