Animal Welfare Professionals

We are a large open admission shelter. What does your shelter charge owners for redeeming a lost pet, particularly after stray hold is up and the animal is available for adoption? Does it vary if the animal required medical intervention, bloodwork, etc while in house? Do you have a policy on this or does it vary case by case?

It always varies case by case, but standard protocol is for them to pay fees for days held. If we have spayed/neutered we do not quibble about that. Either they will not take the animal because they wanted to breed, or they will take and we do not have to worry about that animal being bred. 

I work for a municipal shelter and our fees are based on state law and city law but I hope they help. If an animal comes in as a stray we have to hold the animal for 3 to 5 days depending on if it has any identification that can lead us to the owner (microchip, etc.). During that time period we can not do anything further than provide vaccinations and brief medical examination. If we find something medically wrong the most we can do is dispense pain medication since the animal is not legally our property (unless it is a severe case that requires we euthanize it). Our fees are $10 for rabies if they do not have proof of current vaccination, $25 if the animal is not spayed/neutered, $15 impound fee for the first offense and each offense goes up by $10 per rolling calendar year (so if they are picked up twice in a 12 month period we charge $25) and then $5 per night for boarding. We have waived fees in certain cases but the rabies and spay/neuter are not waivable due to state law. Both the rabies and spay/neuter fee are refundable if the owner provides proof that they got the animal their rabies shot and/or spayed/neutered within 30 days.

Thank you!

Our return to owner fee is $30 if the animal is claimed within the 5 day stray hold period.  Included in that $30 are vaccinations for DHLPP, Bordetella and Rabies (if the vet has been here to do it before being claimed).  We also microchip the animal, if it's not already chipped. If claimed after, the fee is based on what we have done medically for it such as spay/neuter, deworm, flea/tick preventative, medications that it may need.

We would only charge our adoption fee if it's past the required stray period. There's no difference at that point between an adopter and the original owner, except that the original owner already has a bond with the animal. The animal then returns to the owner spayed/neutered, chipped, vaccinated, and the owner knows they can reach out to experts for help with any future troubles. It's a win-win!