[momtolabs]

The pound I got Bentley from does not require an adoption fee. Does not do vet references, no home checks(I know usually only rescues do that), and the only thing you do is get the dog fixed in thirty days. But we didn't even have to sign papers to get Bentley! So are all/most pounds like this? I know the HS does a little more and you have to have a vet Ref. and there is an adoption fee.

 

[Willowy]

Probably most high-kill rural pounds are like that. Although I thought they had to have you sign a paper to transfer legal ownership. But, yeah, the pound here, you pay $5 and the animal is yours. I don't know if they make you sign anything. No state law requiring spay/neuter, either, so that's not even mentioned.

The AC shelter I got Toby from required a photo ID (to confirm you're at least 18), I signed the paper saying he'd be neutered within 30 days (it was in Iowa and they do have a state law), and paid an $80 adoption fee (getting $75 back when proof of neutering was sent in). That was it.

 

[Abbylynn]

I got Abbylynn at a shelter ... in which a rescue was involved also. They required a drivers license as ID ... a fee of $100 ... and you had to sign a paper stating that the dog would not be living outside ... and if anything should happen that you could not keep the dog ... it was to be returned to them. This included the dog license also. The dog would not be yours until it was sent to PA to the vet tech institute for a 5 way vaccine, bloodwork, and neuter/spay. I had to wait ten days to pick Abbylynn up and bring her home after I adopted her.

Eddee came from a city shelter. His fee was $86 and included a 5 way shot ... and a dog license. I had to sign a paper stating I would take him to their choice of clinic to be neutered. This made it legal. The neuter fee was included in the $86. If you did not have him neutered within 90 days ... you would get a notice and would have to pay full price for his neuter at their clinic.

The country kill shelter near my home has a $17 fee and the dog is yours ... no questions asked except for your name and address and phone number to register the dog license. The $17 dollars includes a 5 way vaccine. That is it!

 

[momtolabs]

We didn't have to sign any forms. I do send updates on him though, but that is your choice and you don't have to. The AC officer(who happens to be my sisters friends grandpa) has came and met Bentley and enjoyed seeing him. He was going to pull Bentley himself but couldn't because Bentley was too much for him and prayed the night before someone would get him the next day(the day he was due to be PTS). When he found out someone was interested in him he was ecstatic it was me. I called his home phone at 9 at night to say I wanted him,lol. So it was neat hearing Bentley's story and then when the AC officer got to come and see how he was doing it was a sweet moment. I used to see AC officers as mean, evil people who kill dogs but now my view on them is changed.


That was off-topic but I just wanted to add that in there.

 

[sheltiemom]

It sounds like they vary widely. The shelter we adopted a cat from when I was a kid and the same one we got my old dog Domino from had a relatively small fee...$50 I think but that was 10+ years ago....you had to fill out an extensive application like with a rescue, the dogs were vetted and speutered before they left, etc. That one is in a more affluent area. The worst one was a rural shelter I got Scarlett from, $40 fee that included nothing, spay/neuter/vet you take care of yourself, no questions asked, animals housed in filth...Scarlett was caked in her own feces. My family left in tears. The one nearest my house, fees are $75 for cats, $100 for dogs, animals are vetted and speutered. I've looked there many times, never left with an animal. Conditions are average.

 

[JessCowgirl88]

I know out here they all require you fill out an application which is saying you own the dog, you know the liabilities of owning a dog, what it takes to own one, that they may have kennel cough, etc and the shelter is not required to pay to take care of it things like that, then if its from a shelter in your city you pay the license fee right away, its all the same for cats as well. You also pay a adoption fee which varies from shelter to shelter, dogs are more then cats, then if they are under the age to be fixed you pay a extra fee, they schedule the appt. for the fix and then once you get your dog fixed you send in the sterilization paper to the city and the refund you that extra fee. If you get it done after/or do not do it you do not get the fee back and its I think it is between 50-80 fee the add on again varies by shelter. Then they all come with one free vet check. All of the animals that go into the shelters are fixed and given their shots. The highest adoption fee from a shelter out here i believe is between 75-85, the cheapest is i think between 55-65. Oh yeah and they all do microchips now as well which is included and a 5 pound bag of dog food.

Where i got Snow from which is as odd as this sounds a beautiful no kill shelter, this is what adoption includes with them: Dogs: $75 + $10 for rabies vaccine + license fees in your area ($12 for residents of Apple Valley)
Dog adoption fees include spay or neuter, a free well pet check at participating veterinarians, a 5# bag of Science Diet, a microchip (including life-long registration) and an educational adoption packet featuring an instructional DVD.

 

[jersey_gray]

In the city I live in they dropped the contract with the county animal control and now provide their own animal control services. One officer for the entire town of over 15,000 residents. The rescue group that has been helping them recently wrote an article in the paper stating that they were no longer going to continue helping the animal control officer if the city did not hire more officers and upgrade or buy/rent an adequate space to house animals. They put the dogs up for $25 dollar adoption fees plus $50 spay/neuter deposit that you get back when the dog is altered. If the dog is already altered then it's just the twenty-five dollar fee.

When I adopted my dog Wally from the Humane Society many, many years ago it cost me $80. He was an eight year old dog when I adopted him that they had to neuter and treat for heartworm. I adopted him from a no-kill shelter in a much wealthier area. If he had come from this town ac he wouldn't have been neutered and I doubt he'd have had the heartworm treated.

I imagine it probably varies widely depending on the area and the amount of wealth in that particular area has a significant impact on rates charged, if any.

 

[mustlovedogs123]

Here the adoption fee is $150 and you have to fill out an application, they are actually very picky who they will send a dog home with! The dogs are also all spayed and neutered before they are released.

 

[ireth0]

The shelter I adopted both my cats at (and now volunteer taking care of the dogs at) works like this;

Cats are $150, kittens under 6 months are $175
Dogs are $250, puppies under 6 months are $300
Older animals often have their fees reduced, or even waived. They also sometimes do 'better with a buddy' promotions for cats where when you buy 2 cats together one is free or half off or something like that.
They also have a great palliative care program for elderly pets. Basically the shelter provides everything for you (including food and medical care) for the duration of the animal's life. 'You just provide the love' is what they tell people.

For cats, you fill out an application and show driver's license as ID. For one of my cats they provided medicine for her URI, which cleared up quickly once I got her home.

Dogs are required to meet everyone who lives in the household (even if it wont be 'their' dog) as well as any other dogs already in the home. For puppies and some adult dogs with specific behaviour issues you have to have pre-enrolled them in a puppy or obediance class and show proof before you can adopt them. They give the option of having the dog microchipped for $20.

All animals are up to date with all their vet work (shots, worming, etc) and spayed or neutered before going home. You get a package with all their medical info, as well as a free visit to a vet within 48 hours to make sure everything is okay. If the vet prescribes anything for them, the shelter will fill the perscription for you for free.

We are -very- lucky in that our shelter is partnered with Iams, and Iams provides all the food the shelter needs free of charge (in exchange for putting their brand on things, basically). Normally the pet will go home with at least half a bag of food, provided they food they need (kitten vs cat, etc) is available at the shelter.

After reading about all of these bad shelters, it makes me really appreciate how well ours is doing, and how lucky we are!

 

[Curbside Prophet]

The $$$ and culture of your municipality drive how the shelter is run.

 

[RonE]

Some areas have a shelter and a pound and they are distinct entities. The pound will have strays that are picked up by animal control. They will keep the animal for a prescribed number of days, to see if an owner shows up, and then make the animal available for adoption - sometimes with very little fanfare.

The shelter will have animals that are surrendered. They should have some history on the animal and may be more strict in their adoption policies.

In many areas the two functions are combined.

I had a fairly awful experience with a municiple pound many years ago. I saw a very nice Golden at the city pound and put my name in as someone who wanted to adopt him. I checked on him pretty much every day for the week they had to keep him. When the week was up, I went in, fully expecting to be bringing home a dog, and he wasn't there. I asked what had happened to him, thinking the owner had come in and claimed him (after a week???) They were unable or unwilling to confirm that, and I have always suspected that they euthanized him.

I don't visit pounds any more, but I frequently prowl shelters - just to see what's new.

 

[momtolabs]

Forgot I made this,lol. But they are starting to get a little more stricter,not much but makes me more comfortable and I dont even work there!! Most dogs have at-least 30 dollar adoption fee now. Oh and I found out you can only foster if you have a fostering license -_- which I never knew existed.Most of the time there is an application but I didn't know who could get licensed or had to be(which I think is just a preference right?).

 

[Kobismom]

So are all/most pounds like this? I know the HS does a little more and you have to have a vet Ref. and there is an adoption fee.

I've adopted many cats from the pounds locally. Only an adoption fee was required, and a brief questionnaire/paperwork. No home checks were ever done. No vet refs. If the animal was old enough, the spay/neutering would be completed before the animal could be released to the new owners, but that was it.

 

[DJEtzel]

No. Our local animal control charges up to about $150 for dog adoptions. You have to fill out a one page application, they call your landlord if you have one or the city to make sure you do own your home, then you pay. AFTER you pay, they HW test the dog (so you could easily end up already adopting a dog with HW without knowing!) give it a DHPP shot, and microchip it. The fees pays for you to take it to the local HS if necessary to spay/neuter it, or if it's a pit bull, they keep it there and spay/neuter it before it can leave. Except in my case; they had no room for my pit and I was adopting him because he was going to be PTS, so they let me take him right away.

No vet checks or home checks though.