ADOPTION FEES AT PETAPALOOZA
Understanding
Adoption Fees
Adoption fees will vary from each shelter or rescue group.
Fees charged are necessary and will help ensure you are receiving a healthy pet. Fees include spay/neuter, age appropriate vaccinations and more. These are fees that you would pay to your Veterinarian when you adopt a new pet and are most often much LESS than what you would pay at your Veterinarian.
Why Do Shelters and Rescue Groups Charge A Fee?
Almost every single rescue group and every shelter charges an adoption fee, and each group sets their own fee. Rescuing pets is expensive work!
The rescuer often pays to have the pets spayed or neutered if they aren’t already, provides vaccines, and pays for all medical care needed while the pets are in their rescue. Some rescuers don’t have a facility and run out of foster homes, so they must pay to have the pets boarded while they try to find them homes. Food, beds, leashes, collars, tags, grooming…it all adds up.
If the rescuer took a pet out of the animal shelter, they have paid the shelter’s adoption fees. Even with adoption fees, rescuers are often thousands of dollars in debt to veterinarians. So, PLEASE don’t feel like you’re being taken advantage of if you’re asked for an adoption fee. Nobody (at least nobody reputable) is making money off these pets!
Some Pets May Not Be Available For "Same Day" Adoptions
Each Shelter and Rescue Group has different policies and procedures when adopting out a pet. Many will require an application to be filled out and/or a home visit before the pet may go home with you. If this is the case, your pending application/home visit will be honored at the adoption fee agreeded upon on PetAPalooza day.
When a shelter or rescue takes on the commitment of an abandoned pet , it’s a huge responsibility. Finding that pet the right fit for a forever home is part of that responsibility. The home visit is intended to support the adoptive family and to ensure that this will be the right match. Be open with the shelter staff; ask them whatever questions you want. They are there to make sure that everyone is happy, and that you and your new pet live happily ever after!