Looking to find pets a new home, local animal shelters will lower adoption fees
Sixty animal shelters and rescue groups, including the Burbank Animal Shelter and Pasadena Humane Society, will be dropping their adoption fees yet again to help find hundreds of pets new homes.
NBC4 and Telemundo 52 are hosting their third annual “Clear the Shelters” event on Aug. 19, which aims to raise awareness about pet adoption and help reduce the number of animals at local shelters.
From 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. that day, all participating shelters in Southern California will reduce their adoption fee to $20 for dogs, cats and other available animals.
The fee includes spaying or neutering, the first round of vaccinations and microchipping, said Stacie Wood, senior animal control officer at the Burbank Animal Shelter.
Wood added that Burbank will also have smaller animals, such as bunnies, hamsters and turtles, that will also be up for adoption that day for a lower fee.
The Burbank Animal Shelter usually charges $125 for a dog adoption and $78 for a cat adoption, both of which also include spaying or neutering, vaccinations and microchipping.
“The $20 fee during [the ‘Clear the Shelters’ event] is a great deal,” Wood said.
Staff members at the Pasadena Humane Society, which provides animal-control services for Glendale, will also be helping the animals they have at their facility find new homes.
The typical adoption fees at the Pasadena shelter are $130 for dogs and $75 for cats, said Jamie Holeman, a spokeswoman for the Pasadena Humane Society.
Holeman added the Pasadena shelter tends to become overcrowded during the summer because owners are more willing to put their pets outside on hot days. Because the warmer temperatures make female cats go into heat, the stray cat population tends to increase as well, Holeman said.
Though the fee to adopt a pet will be significantly less than at other times of the year, Wood and Holeman both said that potential pet adopters must undergo a screening before they can take home their furry companion.
Both Wood and Holeman agreed that those looking to adopt a pet should go to a shelter rather than a breeder.
“The great thing about adopting a pet from an animal shelter is that you are actually saving two lives,” Holeman said. “You’re saving a life by adopting and you’re saving another by creating space in our shelter for another pet coming in.”
Twitter: @acocarpio
