Ugh - idiots!

[catnapper]

I spent 12 hours at work today and decided to stop by the adoption center before I went home. I was hoping to end my long day on a high note of finding a forever home for one of the kitties there. A young man came up and was interested in one of the cats but asked why is the adoption fee "so extremely expensive" My eyes almost bulged outta my head.

I was rather blunt (and boy did bluntness feel good!) and said, "$60? Excuse me, but these cats are all completely up to date on vaccinations, fully tested against disease, spayed or neutered.... they each have around $600 worth of vet care and we're asking a $60 adoption fee. Now I ask you, is $60 extremely expensive? No, its incredibly cheap!"

He was about to ARGUE with me about that when his girlfriend/wife tugged him on the arm and said "She's right - the Humane Society disn't do any of that, and their adoption fee was still $40."

I swear, don't people stop to think about things before they ask stupid questions? $60 adoption fee expensive -- yeah right!!!

[momcat]

You've GOT to be kidding, Kim! The good part of this is you knew right off that this is no fureveer home for your little kitty. $60 is a bargain when you consider the vet care they get, feeding and caring for them. I got Groucho from a small Mom & Pop pet store. Groucho was free, just had to buy $40 worth of supplies. plus his initial vet check. What a jerk!

[Lizzie]

Do you ever tell people that any shelter charges a modest fee to ensure that pets go to people who are prepared to spend money on them as needed? I thought it started, not so much to recover costs, but because when some people took in a free pet, they considered their life cheap and not worth spending more money - for good food, vet bills, etc.

[Karen]

He may have grown up seeing zillions of Free Kittens sign, and not having wowned a pet before, not known the amount of $$$ veterinary bills add up to. I'd give him the benefit of the doubt.

Ignorance is curable by sharing knowledge.

[catnapper]

Karen, I was listening to them - they had several other animals - dog, cats, etc. She was commenting on when they had adopted each animal. He was just very arrogant and the way he asked me was so.... well, it was with an attitude.

[icedtea]

The ktties at my local shelter are around $70.

[moosmom]

Way back when I was living in Michigan, I used to go look at the cats at PetSmart on Eureka Road in Taylor. The cats are from an organization called HEADS (Helping Every Animal Down River Society). I don't want anyone to take this the wrong way. I'm just remarking on my observations.

If a person wants HEADS to take their cat off their hands (yes, I'm saying it sarcastically), HEADS insists that the cat be:

spayed/neutered
utd on all shots (Including Leukemia & Aids)
have a health certificate

THEIR fees????? $100-$175!! I'm sorry, but they're making quite a profit for a 401(c) 3 (NON PROFIT!!) organization. It also sort of proves the point that if people can't afford the adoption fees, they have no business adopting a pet. A vet visit alone is staggering. But hey, that's what I tell the people I adopt cats out to, along with shoving the vet bill in their faces. That usually shuts them up.

Good job, Kim!

[AlleyCat]

Abby's the only we adopted from a shelter - the others were rescues. And Abby's adoption fee was $125. I didn't balk !! I love Abby dearly !! I agree with what Lizzie said, anybody who doesn't want to pay $125 will most likely not love that animal enough to give it a good life. So it was not a problem for hubby and I to fork over that $125, and that's really sad that that guy didn't even want to pay $60.