Is it normal for no-kill centers to charge?

I have contacted a no-kill rescue center for cats, and they want $85 for taking in a cat. The money would go for vet care etc. I understand they need the money, but is this normal? There's no way I'm gonna be able to do that at this point, although it looks like it may not be needed anyway for this "stray" that's been around. He may in fact have a home after all, but owner gone for a while. That's why he's been here. Information yet to be confirmed. Just a rumor right now...
I'm just wondering about the shelter taking money for me bringing in a cat, I've never heard about that before; I knew you'd have to pay to adopt though...

Originally Posted by HappyViking

I have contacted a no-kill rescue center for cats, and they want $85 for taking in a cat. The money would go for vet care etc. I understand they need the money, but is this normal? There's no way I'm gonna be able to do that at this point, although it looks like it may not be needed anyway for this "stray" that's been around. He may in fact have a home after all, but owner gone for a while. That's why he's been here. Information yet to be confirmed. Just a rumor right now...
I'm just wondering about the shelter taking money for me bringing in a cat, I've never heard about that before; I knew you'd have to pay to adopt though...

Click to expand...

Yes!! They spay, give vax, revolution, deworm, etc. They only work off donations!!!

So sorry!!! I misunderstood!!! No they usually do not charge to take a cat from you!!!

I heard some no-kill shelters do in fact put some animals down if they are very sick or they run out of room. So if you pay to have the animal taken care of then they put it down isnt that illegal then on there part?

Originally Posted by HappyViking

I have contacted a no-kill rescue center for cats, and they want $85 for taking in a cat. The money would go for vet care etc. I understand they need the money, but is this normal? There's no way I'm gonna be able to do that at this point, although it looks like it may not be needed anyway for this "stray" that's been around. He may in fact have a home after all, but owner gone for a while. That's why he's been here. Information yet to be confirmed. Just a rumor right now...
I'm just wondering about the shelter taking money for me bringing in a cat, I've never heard about that before; I knew you'd have to pay to adopt though...

Click to expand...

I don't know if it is the norm...but our rescue charges to take an owner release cat/dog. We primarily pull from a kill shelter and owner releases take spaces that would otherwise be taken by a cat or dog on death row.

Katie

Originally Posted by keith p

I heard some no-kill shelters do in fact put some animals down if they are very sick or they run out of room. So if you pay to have the animal taken care of then they put it down isnt that illegal then on there part?

Click to expand...

If they put the animal down due to space...they are not a "no kill". However, there is a difference between no kill and never kill. If the quality of life is not there...then yes, our rescue will put down a cat or dog...additionally, if a dog bites someone, we cannot put that dog back out into society. We are a rescue and not a sanctuary....so we will put a dog that bites down. But if a rescue runs out of space..it shouldn't pull anymore until it adopts out more.

Katie

My shelter charges around $25 depending on the circumstances. If an elderly woman found a kitten and is incapable of caring for it we might charge a lower surrender fee or nothing at all. If a guy comes in every time his dog or cat gets loose and has a litter and he comes to drop them off we will charge an arm and a leg for him being an idiot and give him all kinds of papers and lectures about neutering his animals...

Originally Posted by Jen

My shelter charges around $25 depending on the circumstances. If an elderly woman found a kitten and is incapable of caring for it we might charge a lower surrender fee or nothing at all. If a guy comes in every time his dog or cat gets loose and has a litter and he comes to drop them off we will charge an arm and a leg for him being an idiot and give him all kinds of papers and lectures about neutering his animals...

Click to expand...

Jen...what about a spay the momma program.....where you will only take the litter if the person brings the momma in to be spayed.

Katie

Originally Posted by Jen

My shelter charges around $25 depending on the circumstances. If an elderly woman found a kitten and is incapable of caring for it we might charge a lower surrender fee or nothing at all. If a guy comes in every time his dog or cat gets loose and has a litter and he comes to drop them off we will charge an arm and a leg for him being an idiot and give him all kinds of papers and lectures about neutering his animals...

Click to expand...

Wwhy is it a guy???

Yes No Kills will charge for dropping off an animal and for adopting one out.

No kill shelters usually don't have a lot of spare room and often have a very long waiting list. Some charge a fee to offset costs but also to get people to think twice about giving them up. The no kill shelter close to me does not even take in owner releases, as they are overfull with homeless cats off the street. The kill shelter nearby charges a fee comparable to the cost of euthanasia - go figure.

Originally Posted by Momofmany

No kill shelters usually don't have a lot of spare room and often have a very long waiting list. Some charge a fee to offset costs but also to get people to think twice about giving them up. The no kill shelter close to me does not even take in owner releases, as they are overfull with homeless cats off the street. The kill shelter nearby charges a fee comparable to the cost of euthanasia - go figure.

Click to expand...

Don't get me wrong here, I'm NOT about to give up any of my cats... But: Why wouldn't they take "owner releases"? Wouldn't it be better to take a cat who's owner doesn't want it anymore for whatever reason? Of course it would be great if they decided to keep the cat, but what about the big risk in them just deciding to abandon it altogether, or taking it to the vet to be put down? (Or putting it down themselves, which some people will actually do) I guess I think there's more of a risk for the kitty's sake to not accept it... I mean, if a mother came in to a hospital with her child, asking them to take care of it because she didn't want to be a mother anymore, or wasn't able to care for the child, wouldn't it be crazy to send the child back home with her, not knowing if she'd care for and love the child?
I just don't understand this...

Originally Posted by HappyViking

Don't get me wrong here, I'm NOT about to give up any of my cats... But: Why wouldn't they take "owner releases"? Wouldn't it be better to take a cat who's owner doesn't want it anymore for whatever reason? Of course it would be great if they decided to keep the cat, but what about the big risk in them just deciding to abandon it altogether, or taking it to the vet to be put down? (Or putting it down themselves, which some people will actually do) I guess I think there's more of a risk for the kitty's sake to not accept it... I mean, if a mother came in to a hospital with her child, asking them to take care of it because she didn't want to be a mother anymore, or wasn't able to care for the child, wouldn't it be crazy to send the child back home with her, not knowing if she'd care for and love the child?
I just don't understand this...

Click to expand...

A no kill rescue is different from an open admission shelter. Most no kill rescues were formed to save animals that would be euthanized from a kill shelter (which is where owners can drop off their pets if they want to risk having the animal PTS). The animals at the shelter that the no kill pulls from would typically be put down THAT DAY. The person looking to turn in their animal has many choices....they can rehome the animal themself, they can give it to a kill shelter and hope that it gets adopted or they can pay the fee and ensure that the animal finds a home through a no kill rescue...but again, the goal of most rescues is to save animals from kill shelters.

Katie

We dont charge for taking in an animal.. mostly because this puts people off bringing in animals which seriously need help.
Instead, if they still care enough, they dump the animals up the country road, and even then the chance of us catching them is reduced.

We dont 'charge' for adoptions, there is an optional donation of your choice, which most people make between 20-50euro, and some pay nothing.

The other non kill shelter nearby does charge for taking in and adopting animals.. and funnily enough, they are the ones in serious financial difficulty..

We do pull some animals from the pound, but most of the animals that come in are injured/sick/abused/neglected/abandoned.
Mostly the dogs we pull from the pound are greyhounds, as they are almost guaranteed to have had a horrible start to life, and we try give them that second chance.

Originally Posted by HappyViking

Don't get me wrong here, I'm NOT about to give up any of my cats... But: Why wouldn't they take "owner releases"? Wouldn't it be better to take a cat who's owner doesn't want it anymore for whatever reason? Of course it would be great if they decided to keep the cat, but what about the big risk in them just deciding to abandon it altogether, or taking it to the vet to be put down? (Or putting it down themselves, which some people will actually do) I guess I think there's more of a risk for the kitty's sake to not accept it... I mean, if a mother came in to a hospital with her child, asking them to take care of it because she didn't want to be a mother anymore, or wasn't able to care for the child, wouldn't it be crazy to send the child back home with her, not knowing if she'd care for and love the child?
I just don't understand this...

Click to expand...

The question about taking in owner releases is more of a space issue. A lot of the no-kill rescue groups are in-home fostering and there is always limited space available to them. If they had to choose between a homeless cat off the street, a cat about to be euthanized at a kill shelter, or a cat already in a home, they will not pick the cat in a home. It's not that the cat in the home is in an ideal situation, but at present, it does have someone feeding it and a roof over its head. No-kills will have waiting lists - when a foster spot opens up, they will take an owner relinquish. The no-kill that I volunteer at rarely gets past the homeless cats. They have taken in animals from homes where the animal is abused or severely neglected, in which case they might as well be homeless.

It's never easy for them to turn a cat away, but they should try to education the person about the issues that are forcing them to try to give the cat away. Make the situation right so they don't need to give the cat up.

A lot of no-kills, including the one I work with, take owner releases in the manner as follows: the owner agrees to foster the cat while the organization runs the bio on the website and includes the cat on the adoption wall and at special events. Unfortunately, space is always an issue with no-kills, since the number of homeless or soon-to-be homeless cats far exceeds the number of adoptions. No-kills tend to be a little more progressive and picky in who they adopt out to as well, so that also adds to the issue.

Originally Posted by keith p

I heard some no-kill shelters do in fact put some animals down if they are very sick or they run out of room. So if you pay to have the animal taken care of then they put it down isnt that illegal then on there part?

Click to expand...

Well, my no-kill euthanizes animals that have, with the opinion of the on-site vets, have less than a week to live. The only cats I've ever seen put down have been two that have come in in the final stages of FeLV and one that had just simply lost too much blood from being hit by a car moments earlier and was fading quickly, but not quickly enough to put it out of its misery without suffering. It's not illegal since in many areas, there is no specific legislation that says how a no-kill is to function (unless that's changed fairly recently) and it generally varies from place to place.

That is a really great idea! I should suggest that the next time we have a staff meeting, thanks!

Originally Posted by TNR1

Jen...what about a spay the momma program.....where you will only take the litter if the person brings the momma in to be spayed.

Katie

Click to expand...

Originally Posted by BigKittenDaddy

Wwhy is it a guy???

Click to expand...

Sorry! There is actually a guy I was thinking of that I personally lectured and tried to talk him into neutering his dogs. He brought in a few litters and is like "she just keeps escaping and coming back pregnant!" Thats all I was going on! Women can be just as bad too!

Originally Posted by Jen

That is a really great idea! I should suggest that the next time we have a staff meeting, thanks!

Click to expand...

Here is one program...


http://www.spayneuter.com/

Spay Your Momma Campaign
While supplies last, the Jackson County Animal Shelter is offering a coupon redeemable for a FREE cat spay at 11 local vet offices to cat guardians who surrender a litter of kittens to the Shelter.

OBJECTIVE: The program's objective is to spay a significant number of owned cats to prevent them from having more litters that end up either as shelter intake or at large, continuing the reproduction cycle.

LIMITATIONS AND RESTRICTIONS: To qualify for this special offer, the female cat to be spayed must be an owned pet.

For more information please call the shelter at: 541-774-6654

Katie