False claims about pet deaths at Cobb County’s animal shelter are spreading on social media. The real numbers tell a different story.
🐕 Why It Matters: These wrong numbers are scaring pet owners and making people think the shelter is failing when staff are actually working hard to save animals.
📊 The Real Numbers: Cobb Animal Services shares all their data online for everyone to see. This year, the shelter has taken in 3,620 animals and found homes or rescues for 2,225 of them. That’s a much better picture than the fake post suggests.
🏠 What’s Happening: Like shelters everywhere, Cobb is dealing with too many animals and not enough homes. Money troubles are making it harder for families to keep their pets. But the shelter is fighting back with adoption events, mobile adoption trailers, and partnerships with rescue groups.
💡 How You Can Help: Director Steve Hammond says the goal is finding homes for every cat and dog. You can visit the shelter’s website, volunteer your time, donate supplies, or adopt a pet. The shelter needs the community’s help, not fear based on wrong information.
🔍 Between the Lines: The shelter’s live release rate is 86%, meaning most animals leave alive. The average stay is over 11 days, giving pets time to find families.
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Before You Dismiss This Article…
We live in a time when information feels overwhelming, but here’s what hasn’t changed: facts exist whether they comfort us or not.
When A&W launched their third-pound burger to compete with McDonald’s Quarter Pounder in the 1980s, it failed spectacularly. Not because it tasted worse, but because customers thought 1/3 was smaller than 1/4. If basic math can trip us up, imagine how easily we can misread complex news.
The press isn’t against you when it reports something you don’t want to hear. Reporters are thermometers, not the fever itself. They’re telling you what verified sources are saying, not taking sides. Good reporting should challenge you — that’s literally the job.
Next time a story makes you angry, pause. Ask yourself: What evidence backs this up? Am I reacting with my brain or my gut? What would actually change my mind? And most importantly, am I assuming bias just because the story doesn’t match what I hoped to hear.
Smart readers choose verified information over their own comfort zone.
B.T. Clark
B.T. Clark is an award-winning journalist and the Publisher of The Georgia Sun. He has 25 years of experience in journalism and served as Managing Editor of Neighbor Newspapers in metro Atlanta for 15 years and Digital Director at Times-Journal Inc. for 8 years. His work has appeared in several newspapers throughout the state including Neighbor Newspapers, The Cherokee Tribune and The Marietta Daily Journal. He is a Georgia native and a fifth-generation Georgian.
