Pet Adoption -- HSBV Policy Helps All Shelter Animals

10/19/04

The letter from Marjorie Lorene about adoption fees at the Humane Society of Boulder Valley ("Pet Adoption," Open Forum, Oct. 17) makes many false assumptions about our adoption fees.

Like many shelters throughout the United States, HSBV uses a sliding scale for our adoption fees, charging more for highly adoptable animals and less for animals that are likely to have trouble finding a home. The higher fees that are charged for highly adoptable dogs and cats (called VIP animals) help subsidize the cost of keeping animals for a longer time in our shelter. The number of VIP animals is small compared to the 4,300 adoptions we facilitate each year. The majority of our animals are adopted at the $95 fee range.

Our sliding-scale adoption fees enable us to save the lives of 86 percent of the pets that come through our doors, compared with the 75 percent average for other Colorado animal shelters. We put many resources into animals to help them become adoptable and thus achieve this save-rate. And once an animal is placed in our adoption area, he or she is given the care and shelter they need for as long as it takes to find a new home. This means we never euthanize because of time or space.

Ms. Lorene mistakenly calls our policies "classist." Our policies are designed with the animal's welfare in mind. A small "hold" fee, which prevents an animal from being adopted by another party for 24 hours, assures us that the potential adoptee is serious. Every day in a shelter increases stress for the animal, so we don't place dogs "on hold" without this assurance.

Our fee structure has nothing to do with an animal being purebred. Rather, our criteria for setting adoption fees are age, size, health, behavior and breed. For example, small dogs, regardless of breed, tend to be very popular with adopters and get adopted quickly, so we are likely to charge a higher fee for them.

Ms. Lorene asserts that we think wealthy people are better pet guardians. We don't interview people about their financial status. We do talk to people about their ability to provide for veterinary care and to meet the social and physical needs of the animals. We want to assure it is a good match between the animal and the adopter.

Our current policies offer a wide range of adoption fees, which allows people from all economic groups to adopt pets, thereby furthering our mission of saving the lives of animals.

Jan McHugh-Smith
Chief Executive Officer
Humane Society of Boulder Valley