The Cost of Adopting Animals

The cost of adopting animals at the Wake County Animal Shelter is:

Dog - $45 (Surgery - $50)

Cat - $15 (Surgery - $30)

Rabbit - $20

The adoption fees include the pet's first series of shots (DA2PPV or FVRCP), a general dewormer, a heartworm test for dogs, a FIV/FELU test for cats, a topical flea and tick treatment, a microchip and a rabies vaccine. If the animal is under the age of four months at the time of adoption, it will be considered too young to receive its rabies vaccination.  (Quoted from http://www.wakegov.com/pets/shelter/fees.htm which has the prices for adoption of small and exotic animals as well.)

Currently there is an adopt one, get one free special on kittens at the shelter (I can understand why!) as well as a program Sweet Pea Time wrote about extensively, Senior Cats for Senior Laps.

I asked Amanda Walrad, the volunteer coordinator, why they don’t give homeless pets away for free and what the pros and cons of this would be.  Her answer was that the animals have expenses (such as everything listed above!) as well as reinforcing the fact that an animal is a responsibility and a financial commitment.  She admitted the negative side to this is that they can’t find a home for every animal.  Amanda added that they do release animals to rescue groups (50C3s) for free. 

I asked the same question to a very kind Ricardo Vega, who was at the shelter looking for a pet for his family.  He stated that he believes the shelter has a fee for adoption because it shows they expect a commitment from people for the animal and that it decreases the amount of pets they receive back at the shelter. 

I will post a picture tomorrow evening.  I had a camera malfunction today (batteries run out) and I feel it would be easier to represent the answers I received at home (where my own kitty lives) than here.