At PAWS Atlanta, our no-kill philosophy requires investing deeply, not moving animals through quickly. We treat every animal as an individual, not a number. We provide extended shelter stays, even when an animal’s path to adoption is long or complex. This means we often have more long-term animals than other shelters. But we never give up on finding them homes!

Over the past few months, several of our longest-term pets have finally gotten what we always hoped for them: a loving family. Here are a few of their stories.

Sweet Cheeks

Sweet Cheeks first arrived at PAWS Atlanta in 2022. She was barely a year old, and we assumed she would find a new family quickly. However, she waited and waited. She got e few breaks in foster homes over the years, but, for some reason, no one was interested in bringing her home permanently. Sweet Cheeks was great with kids and enjoyed other dogs, so it was a mystery to our team why she hadn't found a family. Finally, in early July 2026, someone wanted to meet her! Just like our staff, they fell in love with her immediately. On July 2, she headed out of our gates for the last time, with one little glance back to thank her friends.

Sasappis

Sasappis, affectionately known as Sassy around the shelter, was our longest-term cat until recently. He entered the shelter in January 2023 along with a few other cats. All of them were suspicious of humans, and our staff and volunteers worked hard to socialize them. The rest of the crew got adopted over the past few years, but Sassy still sat in the Cat Cottage. Room 2 became "his room", and he could reliably be seen in the window, keeping an eye on the parking lot. In addition to taking time to warm up to people, he was also FIV positive. We knew it would take a special family to bring him home, and just a few weeks ago, that family found him! After seeing him on social media, they came to meet him and spent an hour getting to know him. He's already enjoying bird watching in his new home and the company of his new cat brother.

Mangochi

Mangochi was left at the shelter gate in 2022. Her unique (and somewhat goofy) look quickly made her a staff and volunteer favorite! Unfortunately, though, she wasn't a favorite with potential adopters. She could come on a little strong with lots of eager energy, which could be overwhelming. But we knew with more space and individualized attention, Mangochi's energy would even out. All she needed was a little time. Thankfully, one of our fosters stepped up to take her in, and she spent over a year in foster.