Paws in Middle Georgia searching for new home after closure

Rescue leaders say dozens of animals remain in foster homes as they search for a new location.

WARNER ROBINS, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Paws in Middle Georgia Animal Rescue is now operating as a foster-only organization after the Warner Robins shelter says it lost its lease and closed its physical location.

“We do not have a permanent building,” Treasurer Melissa Hanson said. “We’re still looking diligently and fundraising, finding the correct place with the right zoning that we can afford, because it’s proved to be more challenging than we anticipated.”

Hanson says they currently have 58 animals in their care. All are in foster homes and will remain with their foster parents until they find a new facility to house them.

“We’re committed to finding them forever homes for however long that takes,” she said. “It’s a constant need for new fosters and we’re very limited on taking in new animals.”

Kitten foster Melissa Hart says she became a foster after seeing a kitten brought into the shelter with a broken leg.

“I ended up taking him to the vet the next day for the animal shelter, and he had to have his leg amputated,” she said. “And I was like, ‘I don’t wantt to leave him at the building.’ I’m like, ‘I’m a nurse; I can take care of him. And that’s where it started. It started with Moon Pie, who is now Teeter and lives with one of my friends.”

Hart believes the city has the space to house these animals.

“I see a lot of abandoned buildings in Warner Robins, and it’s really hard to go by them all the time and nobody’s there,” she said. “They’ve been abandoned for years, and it’s just like, that could hold a lot of animals… I always look at it like that.”

Hanson says she hopes a space will become available soon.

“It’s very difficult, but we continue to see every day how vital the services we provide are,” she said. “So we’re remaining positive and hopeful that it will work out and find the perfect space and continue this mission that’s so dear to all of our hearts.”

Hanson says the public can help by fostering an animal, sending donations or attending events. More information can be found at pawsinmidga.com.