Why do Animal Shelters....?

Question

Why do animal shelters now charge you for every cat you take in? My brothers took 4 kiitens to our local Animal Shelter and they charged them $5 per kitten.

Do you know why? I mean that's absurd! Why charge to give kittens to the shelter? Do you know any other animals who are also getting charged to take? I need answers!

Answer 1

It takes a lot of money to feed and house unwanted pets. Not every shelter gets enough in donations to keep the shelter afloat. Many kittens are brought to shelters because the owners were to lazy to spay their cat and now they don't want to deal with the kittens. If your brother found the kittens and was trying to do a good thing by getting them off the street, I can understand why you might feel the way you do. But stop and think about the cost of the building, utilities, food, litter, vet care and medication, insurance, workers (not everyone is a volunteer!), bedding....these are just to name a few. The five dollars per cat won't even begin to pay for the care they will need.  

Answer 2

That's a good question. Certainly there are costs for taking care of the animal once it is surrendered, and that's why there is a charge to adopt an animal from the shelter. But I worry that by charging people to drop off pets, this shelter might actually deter people from bringing the pets in and encourage them to simply abandon them. The SPCA in my area does not charge to drop off an animal, and yet there were still several cases over the winter of people just dropping the poor animal at the side of the road. Disgusting. I hope your shelter changes its policy.

Answer 3

cuz there jak asses......

Answer 4

This fee covers spaying or neutering,and vaccines that they give the cats before adoption. And that costs money if you didn't know

Answer 5

The majority of people on here are giving great answers.

Whoever said it is ridiculous to pay to adopt out cats obviously doesn't know what they're talking about.

It costs SO MUCH for a shelter to provide a single cat with the care that it needs. If an un-neutered, un-vaccinated, un-microchipped aggressive, feral cat came into a shelter it is going to cost a lot of money in not only vet bills, but staff wages to ensure this cat can be safely adopted out as a healthy individual.

Shelters usually ask for a donation when you bring in a cat to give them a hand at been able to adopt out the cat they're bringing in.

The shelter I work for has always done this, I don't know about where you are but maybe they are begining to realise that they need these funds in order to keep rehoming cats.

Answer 6

Many many shelters don't have the state funding they used to get, so the costs have to be gotten in other ways--raising the adoption fees, and charging for animals turned over to them. Charging also tries to make the current owner think one more time about keeping their animal.  Usually they don't, but at least they think for a moment.

It's not easy for shelters to take in so many animals knowing most have no cages to go into and have to be destroyed.  The number of adopting people don't ever match the number of pets looking for homes.

Answer 7

The shelters in our area do not charge to take in animals.  Every shelter is different.  Best thing to do is to ask them.

Answer 8

Ya!!!! I live in Missouri, and all the shelters here charge you to bring your animals there, I guess its because so many people think animals are just disposable, they get tired of them or they dont take the time to have their pets spayed or neutered, then they get babies and no one wants them, so everyone thinks they can just dump them, some of the shelters here are so full of kittens that they have no more room, so they are turning animals away,

the shelters are so full and they depend totally on donations to keep them going, they have to give them shots feed them, water them, clean up after them, keep their lights on and keep a staff, I dont think it is so absurd, its kinda like asking for a donation to take the animals, whats wrong with that? they gotta pay the bills somehow

Answer 9

When a shelter takes in an animal it costs them money to feed, shelter it and provide medical care. $5 is a very reasonable charge considering how more it costs them to care for the animals. I don't find it absurd at all. If people would spay/neuter their pets then the shelters wouldn't have to do this. Instead there are people who thinks it's "unnatural" to not allow their pet to give birth even just once. As well as misguided and foolish parents who want their children to experience the miracle of childbirth. I could go on and on but I think you get the point.

Answer 10

it is probably because they are short on money and not a lot of people are adopting animals but plenty of people are bringing them in  so they need money to feed the animals    

Answer 11

I'm glad they do

The real question is why do people not fix their cats and not allow them to have kittens. Most of those kittens that your brother turned in will be dead within a year

Answer 12

My hometown shelter charges the same thing.  They have done so for years.

I think paying them $5 per kitten is the least you can do considering they are now going to have to spend their resources for food, litter, deworming medication, and vaccinations as well as possibly having to spay/neuter the pets (or... worse yet... euthanize the cats) if they can't find homes for the kittens right away.

Personally, if I found an animal and had to drop it off, I'd gladly give them $20 to help them with their cause.

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Regarding strays, many shelters will not charge for stray animals.  Of course, you get the cheapskates who won't even pay the $5 for their dog and lie about it being a stray.  I read a story where a person at the shelter says people bring in a "stray" dog, say they think the dog's name is such-and-such, and the dog immediately looks up upon hearing his/her name.  Yeah... like that dog is a stray.

Answer 13

I shelter rats. I do not charge to take them. I only charge to re home them to be sure the new owner will take care of them and not feed them to a snake

Answer 14

I think one of the reasons is because people will bring their own pets to the shelter when they are tired of them.. and it does cost alot of money to care for the animals.

I am with you though, I think that is ridiculous to charge him for rescuing kittens!!!

It is also CRAZY that animal shelters now charge $100 - $150 to ADOPT!!!! How stupid!!!! It doesn't cost that much to neuter and give shots!!!

Answer 15

It costs money to care for the kittens, regardless of the reason they're being given up.  

Answer 16

My sister-in-law in France was charged 100 Euros ($150) to surrender a dog to them, so $5 per kitten is a bargain.

The reason that animal shelters are forced to do this, is because of the ever increasing numbers of animals brought in to them every day.  Many of these rescue organisations are charities and they just don't have the funds to care for every animal that turns up at their door.  In some shelters, taking in new animals means euthanasia for existing residents.

Perhaps if people had to weigh up the cost of handing in kittens or puppies to a shelter, against the cost of have their pet spayed/neutered, they might decide against letting them breed.