What Does Your Adoption Fee Cover?
By Lauren Puckett
You’re looking for a new kitten. After weeks of searching, you find not one, but two – an adorable pair of baby black panthers named Maui and Ohana. Both boys are quite friendly with a wonderful purr, and you can’t wait to bring them home. The only thing that gives you pause are the adoption fees: $150 per kitten.
However, once you look into it, you realize these fees are actually a pretty good deal. The Humane Society of Loudoun County (HSLC) is paying to neuter, microchip, and vaccinate these kittens. The costs for these required services vary:
- $115 to $210 for vaccinations (Daily Paws)
- $100 to $400+ for neutering (MetLife Pet Insurance)
- $45 for microchipping (Daily Paws)
But even at the low end of those ranges, it adds up to $260 per kitten. And that’s just for the healthy animals. For older, sick or injured animals, additional services–including surgery–may cost thousands. It’s no wonder that HSLC paid an average of $1,063 per foster animal in 2022. However, as a completely volunteer-run, foster-based organization, we do not incur expenses to operate or staff a physical location.
So, when you adopt from HSLC or other rescues, remember that the adoption fee is only covering a fraction of the actual expenses incurred. The remaining costs are covered by donations from caring individuals, businesses and foundations that support animal rescue.
Like other rescues, HSLC typically has higher adoption fees than local shelters because we do not receive funding from county, state or federal governments. HSLC’s adoption fees are on par with other non-profit rescues in the area.
Moreover, we’ve been able to keep our adoption fees – $150 per cat and $300 per dog – consistent for more than five years. This is due to the generosity of the community and because our veterinary partners continue to offer discounted services to HSLC even when faced with increasing costs.
To discover the many ways you can support HSLC’s life-saving mission, please visit our donate page. And, to adopt your next family member, visit our adoption page.