It depends on your local shelter. Here in Tucson it's for pets. I had a cat that was a stray so I took her to the humane socitey to get fixed, it was a little more expensive because she was a female I think it cost around $50. And a few of my friends have taken their pets to the humane socitety too to get fixed. They said they want it to be affordable because it's cheaper for them to fix for pet at a low cost then for them to take care of all the babies an unfixed animal will make.