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.

[Corinna]

I up until last tuesday thought the same thing . I haven't had to pay full price for spaying or nutering for a LONG time. I was flabergausted when calling around to get Tyson nuetered I know why our human socity is so full. of babies. $80.00- $175 no shots just the nuter Man I'm glad hes a boy can't even imaginre a spay would be.

[QueenScoopalot]

A great idea for shelters to do is take a random poll of area vets (don't name them) and write down what their (no discount) prices are for all the medical treatment animals adopted by your shelter get. Most likely combo test, rabies FVRCP, and altering as resonsible shelters do. Title it "There's No Such Thing As A Free Kitten" and list the various "full price" services the adoption fee covers. It may make people realize that many if not most shelters operate on a showstring, and shell out much more money than they take in. Not to mention people have no clue that many shelters deal with URIs, broken limbs, and many other very costly treatments for cats. Often it will cost hundreds of dollars to treat a very needy animal, but the cat or dog will still cost the adopter a paltry sum IMO! Yes there are shelters that have paid staff, and charge a lot for unaltered and often untested pets (one near me that really is something ) and many of these adopted kittens and pups go on to make more un-needed pets as "Fluffy" and "Poopsy" must have a litter or two..... . But they are well supported by the public as well, unlike most small shelters *sigh* Glad you went with your gut instinct Kim, as that's usually the right thing to do. And here's an excerpt from a Yahoo group I'm on...and this sure takes the cake! My comments are below in red, and I'm planning on calling this shelter to ask questions about their pitiful policies.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~
Now that the dogs have been seized from the property the investigation
will be turned over to the sheriff's department.
If they track down the owner, he could be charged with animal cruelty
and abandonment.
If you want to take action in adopting the three abandoned dogs, contact
the Powell County Animal Shelter at
606-666-6410

They are open weekdays from 9am-4pm.

All puppies, kittens and cats are FREE.

Adult dogs are $30.
Unwanted animals can be dropped off anytime, no charges, no questions
asked.
WHAT TYPE OF "SHELTER" IS THIS!!!! GRRR!!!! Can we say "pitbull bait", quick $$$ for bunchers who hawk them off to labs...not to mention the reproduction that must come from this assinine idea of FREE???GRR!!!!

[krazyaboutkatz]

I think that paying $60 for an adoption fee is quite a bargain. I paid this much when I adopted Storm from the Humane Society 9 years ago and back then they didn't even test them for FELV/FIV. I had to spend about $200 more on him because he became very sick and had internal and external parasites. Today the Humane Society charges about $150 for their adoption fee and most smaller rescue groups charge between $90-$100. When I adopted Sky from the Humane Society almost 3 years ago, his adoption fee was $125. Now they at least microchip, give them their first vaccination, test for FELV/FIV, and spay or neuter them before you adopt them.

[kb2yjx]

There are some shelters that charge $199.00, and under the fee list EVERYTHING that was done to the cat or dog. They even microchip the cat/dog!!! Too bad he did dot understand that all the vet work could have cost him hundreds of dollars!!! You are correct: IDIOTS!!!

[catmandu]

Thats why I Adopted Miquelito and Pouncierge as I got Two Pure Bred Oriental Short Hair Kittens,all shots .spayed and neutered for 150 Dollars each.
The fact si that there are Too Many Only Children,or Small Family Children and they are spoiled,and have Bad Attitudes.
I would really think twice about letting him have a Cat.

[Donnaj4962]

I was once one of those idiots! I couldn't believe that I would have to pay $85.00 to adopt a cat! So What did I do? I looked in the classifieds and found my Sasha and she came home to me at no cost. Then, $350.00 later, she was spayed, utd on shots, had all necessary tests, etc.! NEVER AGAIN! I can't believe that I was so ignorant to not realize what the cost would be! I vowed that when I am looking for another cat that I would adopt from the local shelter.

I have to admit, that I have learned SO VERY MUCH from the folks on this forum. I read the posts and realize how dedicated you all are to your animals and the welfare of those not in furrever homes. Please don't get me wrong, I love my girls and would do anything for them, but I have learned so much here! I have never admitted this on the forum, but both of my girls are declawed. I thought that was the "normal" thing to do, until I found PetTalk! Now I realize how cruel the procedure is, and that it is only done for the hooman! I truly am embarrassed to admit that I put my girls through that torture. And I tell them that on a regular basis.

Thank you all, for all that you do and the way that you teach so many of us. I take cat food and supplies into my local shelter as often as I can, and I always tell them that I will be back when I am ready to adopt!

[catnapper]

I was once one of those idiots! I couldn't believe that I would have to pay $85.00 to adopt a cat! So What did I do? I looked in the classifieds and found my Sasha and she came home to me at no cost. Then, $350.00 later, she was spayed, utd on shots, had all necessary tests, etc.! NEVER AGAIN! I can't believe that I was so ignorant to not realize what the cost would be! I vowed that when I am looking for another cat that I would adopt from the local shelter.

I have to admit, that I have learned SO VERY MUCH from the folks on this forum. I read the posts and realize how dedicated you all are to your animals and the welfare of those not in furrever homes. Please don't get me wrong, I love my girls and would do anything for them, but I have learned so much here! I have never admitted this on the forum, but both of my girls are declawed. I thought that was the "normal" thing to do, until I found PetTalk! Now I realize how cruel the procedure is, and that it is only done for the hooman! I truly am embarrassed to admit that I put my girls through that torture. And I tell them that on a regular basis.

Thank you all, for all that you do and the way that you teach so many of us. I take cat food and supplies into my local shelter as often as I can, and I always tell them that I will be back when I am ready to adopt!

I am truly glad you learned so much here! I too have learned things! As for the declaw, well nobody can blame you for doing what you thought was right. When I got Allen, a mere 5 years ago, I had set up an appointment to declaw him.... thank God someone told me what the procedure really entailed. I had no idea. A little information goes a long way.

I tried to tell this guy last night that the $60 adoption fee barely covered the surface. Does he think we're raking in the money here? I told him all about Angel and her thousand dollar surgery and how she was adopted with just the $60 adoption fee. His girlfriend/wife "got it" and he was still going to argue. He seems to be one of those arrogant guys who need to act as if they are always in charge... and arguing over a $60 adoption fee was apparently his way of being in control there.