On 12/4/12 9:55 AM, Mike Marlow wrote:
Dave Balderstone wrote:


Maybe it's high compared to some other jurisdictions, but it includes
all shots being up to date, microchipping, a paid vet checkup (we're
going Friday), spay and/or neuter if required, and 6 weeks of pet
health insurance.

Try and do all that for just over $200.

I guess it's all in what you're used to. My wife took in kittens for a long
time, under a foster parent program through a local adoption agency. They
reimbursed the foster parents for all food costs (we never took any
reimbursement), provided all of the shots, provided spay and neuter
services, and then adoped out the kittens for free or some foolish fee like
$50 (or something like that). We never got into the dog program - just the
cats.


The simple answer is cats are less expensive than dogs.
Shelters generally have cats at 10:1 to dogs. Things like medicine and
microchips are cheaper in bulk. Cat's are much easier/cheaper to
spay/neuter, etc, etc.

Shelters have also found, from experience, a correlation between the
number of returned animals to the expense of the fee for adoption. The
lower the fee, the more likely it is the pet will be returned to them.
Human nature, people don't value what doesn't cost them.

They can weed out a lot of "impulse adopters" by simply charging any
amount to begin with. They can weed out many returns by charging
something higher. Most, as you say, are on a shoe-string budget. In the
spring when cats breed like rabbits :-), you see cheaper adoption fees.
Most shelters who do this are losing money and just hoping they don't
get as many returned, this time around.

Bottom line is, ol' CW was spouting ignorance.


--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
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