spca

[katzenberg]

i whent to a petssmart today and stoped to lookat the cats and dogs the spca have there and i was thinking about getting a dog untill i seen most of the dogs has a 285 dollar adoption fee.so i changed my mind quickly i dont have that kind of money.there are going to end up keeping alot of the animals do to this.

[whatever]

wow, that's crazy. I could see maybe a 100. because they have the fixed etc. but that is just plain out there.

[Willow]

The fees that they charge are crazy. That's why the shelters are so full all the time. There is a friends of cats shelter in our town and to adopt a cat they charge $200. Not only that but they have you fill out a five page form that has ridiculous questions on it such as have you ever abused an animal before or have you ever abandoned an animal. They probably feel that they are legitimate questions but if someone is trying to adopt an animal who is going to admit to those things if it's something they have done. They also want references and if you don't own your own home you need a letter from your landlord stating that pets are allowed. I can understand that because there is a chance the pet mind end up back at the shelter again but some of the things they ask on the form are really stupid I think. That adoption fee doesn't even cover the cost of spaying or neutering. If the pet wasn't already fixed when it arrived at the shelter then you have to cover that cost as well as the adoption fee. There are always people giving away free kittens so most people aren't going to pay $200 to get one from the shelter.

[SLance68]

I know when my brother adopted his beagle the cost was around $ 325.00 but that was because the dog had to have heartworm treatments and surgery on one of his hind legs. So that amount was reasonable for the "work" they had done on the dog. Needless to say - that is the fattest beagle I have ever seen as my brother spoiled him rotten. If they had told him it was $ 1000.00 he would have paid it - he and that dog clicked from minute one. So sometimes there are people out there that will pay what I would consider "outrageous" amounts to adopt a pet.

Now me - I prefer free but my last dog was $ 50.00 and that included spay, tattoo (before chipping got so cheap) and a new pink collar. And she was a rescue dog also but the vet had donated all of the services for her.

[PrincessArky]

We adopted Spaz for $25 from a humane society set up at Petsmart and they gave us a $40 voucher for getting him fixed so that worked out great as most of you know he is my baby and yeah I would have paid way more for him cause it was an instant chemistry

[ladybugva]

I called our pet smart and they have adoption days for their pets and you have to fill out papers and interview and then some places have a house visit before you can take the pet home. WE are looking at the SPCA ours is a no kill but at least they don't do home visits and such. I am not trying to bring home a child it's a dog for crying out loud. I know they are trying to help be sure it goes to a good home but they fees are around $200 I think $100 at the spca

[PrincessArky]

gosh I sure wish some of you guys lived closer our animal shelter and the humane societys charge only $25 (hey actually got our 2 kitties adopt one get one free lol) but now you do have to agree to get them fixed (the one humane society paid almost have of getting Spaz fixed so they didnt really make any money of us)

The Shelter we got our kitties from is in a town of about 60,000 ppl and they have to put down about 1,000 dogs and cats every year.....I just wish everyone who didnt want to take care of the babies would get them fixed. It breaks my heart that I just cant take them all home with me

[iluvmybaby]

I hope that I won't be flamed for this, but I am going to tell you WHY they charge so much for pet adoption fees. I have been involved with rescuses, and it is REALLY expensive to take dogs that have been abandoned/abused/neglected and get them back to health, on top of paying for any obedience training that the animal needs. Let me break it down:

1) This discourages medical labs from getting these animals and experimenting on them, don't kid urself, it STILL happens

2)Spay Nueter $60+= This is NOT free, even for a low profit/no profit organization like the SPCA. Most animals that have been seized or abandoned or rescued are NOT spayed and neutered. The SPCA spays them, they usually have vets that charge low fees because they do it in bulk, the minimum is $60

3) Shots- 90% of all the animals have had NO shots at all, if they are puppies they need about $60 worth of shots to get started, if they are adults they need about $60 to catch up with everything they need

4) Flea and tick treatments range about $10+ per month per animal

We have a total of $130 now, that is if the animal needs NO other medical treatment. Most street animals do, and the SPCA gets them medical treatment at a low cost, but it is still expensive. Then you factor in gas to transport them to and from adoption shows like PETSMART, and from no kill shelter to no kill shelters in an attempt to spare their life.

I dont blame U $200 at once IS expensive, but U also have to look at it from their point of veiw. I hope you find the right animal for you, either way you look at if you get a puppy OR an adult dog you are looking laying out about $100+ to get started, even if you do find a free dog/cat.

[PrincessArky]

1) This discourages medical labs from getting these animals and experimenting on them, don't kid urself, it STILL happens

oh yeah some pet food companies do this and it makes me sick sick sick....I would like to do some testing on those people

[cSoReNSoN]

I hope that I won't be flamed for this, but I am going to tell you WHY they charge so much for pet adoption fees. I have been involved with rescuses, and it is REALLY expensive to take dogs that have been abandoned/abused/neglected and get them back to health, on top of paying for any obedience training that the animal needs. Let me break it down:

1) This discourages medical labs from getting these animals and experimenting on them, don't kid urself, it STILL happens

2)Spay Nueter $60+= This is NOT free, even for a low profit/no profit organization like the SPCA. Most animals that have been seized or abandoned or rescued are NOT spayed and neutered. The SPCA spays them, they usually have vets that charge low fees because they do it in bulk, the minimum is $60

3) Shots- 90% of all the animals have had NO shots at all, if they are puppies they need about $60 worth of shots to get started, if they are adults they need about $60 to catch up with everything they need

4) Flea and tick treatments range about $10+ per month per animal

We have a total of $130 now, that is if the animal needs NO other medical treatment. Most street animals do, and the SPCA gets them medical treatment at a low cost, but it is still expensive. Then you factor in gas to transport them to and from adoption shows like PETSMART, and from no kill shelter to no kill shelters in an attempt to spare their life.

I dont blame U $200 at once IS expensive, but U also have to look at it from their point of veiw. I hope you find the right animal for you, either way you look at if you get a puppy OR an adult dog you are looking laying out about $100+ to get started, even if you do find a free dog/cat.

You beat me to it. I've adopted one dog and one cat from a local animal group here at PetSmart. One in 2000, the other other 2001. I know then it was $100-50, but that covered the cost of shots and neutering. Unfortunately, I got Astro (beagle mix) on February 5 and his shots were due a couple weeks later. It's definitely cheaper in the long run to get the animals from a rescue group as the animals have usually been fostered for a bit, so its tendencies are known. For instance, the rescuer informed us that Astro was a jumper and escaped from her yard a number of times. Thus, I had to supervise him when outside or keep a lead on him, if I wanted to leave him alone for a short time. If I had adopted him at the shelter, I wouldn't have known this unless the owner had surrendered him and alerted the shelter of this fact.

The fee at the local shelter here is $35, but that doesn't cover spay/neuter or shot fees. An additional deposit is required if the animal is unaltered. I know at the vets around here the spay/neuter fee is over $100. Vaccinations around $100. A health screen panel (bloodwork) is $85 ($45 for mini), which would be recommended if the animal has no health records. So the cost of a new pet without any type of medical background gets rather costly in a short period. Now if the animal is surrendered by the owner, some health records may be available, but unfortunately strays do not have this luxury.

To conclude, I have no issue with the adoption fees or screening process.

[ladybugva]

you make a good point. I know there was one dog on the sight I was looking at that had a broken leg and a lot that were sick.
It becomes a circle though. They need the money and need to charge it to keep a float to rescue/accept the pets and fix them up but then b/c it cost a lot of money some people that would be a good family and be able to take care of a pet may not have the money up front to adopt the dog. So they don't get a pet and the shelter is over crowded.

[tigger4]

We adopted our dog last year from the Humane Society. It was $200.00. He was neutered, had a VChip, had his first set of shots (but needed more as soon as we adopted him), got his first vet visit free (which was good since he had worms), and had a $90 rebate for obedience lessons.

Some of the dogs at our H.S. adopt for up to $350.00 depending on the breed.