Breeders Dogs Dropped Off At Shelter
Shelters are already bursting at the seams, and now due to the change in Pennsylvania’s dog laws they are getting many dogs from breeders being dropped off because of new code violations.
To try and help get some of the dogs adopted the Humane League of Lancaster County is slashing dog adoption fees in half.
“Just this past month, we got 98 more dogs here at the shelter,” Megan Gallagher Clark, the Humane League’s vice president of development and outreach, said. “So now we have about 345 dogs – with some in foster care.”
The reduced adoption fees for dogs go into effect today and will continue through Jan 31. The fees, which includes vaccinations and microchipping, are:
Puppies (8 weeks to 6 months), $87.50; adult dogs (7 months through 6 years), $60; and senior dogs (7 years and older), $25.
The recession is hurting everyone, times are tough, but there are still many people who could give a dog a good home. Love doesn’t mean having a ton of toys or treats, it means providing a safe and caring environment.
“We know there’s people who have been putting off adoption because of the recession, but they can still provide quality care for one of our dogs,” Gallagher Clark said. “So, we hope this discount is an incentive.”
Humane League of Lancaster County, 2195 Lincoln Highway East, can be reached at 393-6551. For more information, visit www.humaneleague.com.
* The adorable pup is Alesana, she’s available at the shelter. Photo courtesy Lancasteronline.com.
I know that our Chihuahua and Small Dog Rescue has seen an increase in shelter’s calling us as well.
Please consider helping us save the dogs…all Dogs need are food and water and medical care, and lots of love.
Good quality dog food is not that expensive and, if pet insurance is used, medical care can be affordable as well.
I’m so happy & relieved to see this happening, I hope that other shelters & rescue groups will follow their lead. Unfortunately, food, water, love & medical care can get extremely expensive, especially when you adopt a pet~ especially an older pet, or a pet with special needs. Pet insurance helps, but I recently adopted an older dog with special needs, & there is no help to be found. None of the pet insurance programs will touch us with her pre-existing conditions, so I wouldn’t get anyone’s hopes up with thoughts of counting on help there. (As with human health care insurance, they aren’t going to insure anyone that is already high-risk, & when you adopt an animal, ALL conditions are “pre-existing”.) One insurance co. I checked into wouldn’t even enroll a pet over one year old, & you had to have been on their plan from the very beginning of the pets life!
I’m not trying to be argumentative (just realistic) but good, quality pet food does get expensive. We have to purchase a special diet food from the vet which, along with the medications & vet bills adds up to far more than I can afford right now, having been laid off from work several months ago. And remember, the larger the animal, the more expensive EVERY thing is going to be!
Again, I’m not trying to burst any bubbles, & it’s true that one could conceivably adopt a younger animal, buy health insurance, feed them reasonably priced pet food, & have a long, healthy life together without too many problems. I’m just reminding people that while that is the ideal scenario, we have to keep in mind it could all play out very differently & we have to be able to provide for our pets if/when that happens.
For all of these reasons, I’m happy to see the shelters reducing their fees. During these very difficult economic times, the fees were just too high for too many people to afford. I agree that one doesn’t need to spend money on a lot of treats, toys, etc. to raise a happy & healthy pet, but we do have to realize that even without all the “extras” it still costs a lot to raise one or more healthy pets, & even more if you’re adopting a senior or special needs animal. Bravo to this shelter for going the extra mile in an attempt to re-home all of these precious, deserving animals!
We were looking for another dog online acouple years ago and was shocked at how much they were charging. 150 at one place for a mutt. Not fair, no matter what they say the reasons for the costs are. We finally found our little Jack Russell at a no kill shelter for 90. That included everything- shots, neuter, micro chip. They should lower the prices. Poor people can take care of animals too!