Animals in a shelter are not broken...

Jennifer Vanderau
Cumberland Valley Animal Shelter

(1/2012) OK, here’s a doozy of a story for you. You may want to sit down.

We had a gentleman arrive at the shelter looking for a pet, claiming that he would provide an excellent home, both financially and emotionally stable, but he had decided somewhere along the line that he didn’t want to pay the adoption fee.

Stick with me. This gets unreal.

He made the announcement to three different staff members that he wasn’t going to pay more than $20 for the lucky dog (she said sarcastically) he had selected from our kennels.

The above mentioned three different staff members politely explained to the gentleman (I’m using that term terribly loosely by now) that the adoption fee for the dog remained at $105, regardless of his claims of providing the perfect home for $20.

Here’s the thing. Every animal at this shelter has already been spayed or neutered, has been started on their vaccinations, will receive a microchip for permanent identification upon adoption and has been treated for fleas, ticks, worms, earmites and the like as needed. Cats have been tested for feline leukemia and FIV and are free from those diseases.

Our adoption fees are $120 for puppies six months and younger, $105 for dogs six months and older, $80 for kittens six months and younger and $70 for cats six months and older.

Anyway you slice it, for all that we’ve put into these animals, those prices are a serious deal, and quite frankly don’t always cover what it really costs to care for these animals the way we do.

It would be nice if we didn’t have to charge a fee and I’m sure we would get a lot more animals homes, but we’d also be out of business pretty fast. We have adoption fees to try to cover the cost of the care we give these babies and we try to make them as fair as possible.

To think that someone would walk into the doors of an animal shelter and believe he could "bargain down the price" simply boggles my mind. I mean, my word, this isn’t a used car lot, for crying out loud. These animals don’t have a blue book value, you know?

Indeed, as our shelter manager rather succinctly told this gentleman, "These animals aren’t broken. They’re perfectly capable of love and devotion and good behavior and in the right home, they’ll prove that."

The majority of these animals are already spending their days in cages because someone along the way gave up on them. Didn’t want them any more for whatever reason. Didn’t bother to search when they got lost. Decided they just weren’t worth the effort anymore.

The last thing any of them need is someone who thinks so little of them that they believe they can haggle down the price for them before they even get them home.

Also, I couldn’t help but wonder exactly how financially stable a home this gentleman could really offer if he wasn’t willing to go a penny higher than $20. How could we even be sure the dog would receive the necessary vet care, let alone quality food? I mean, what are the chances he’d go into a vet clinic and announce "I’m not paying more than $35 for that procedure." ‘Cause, that’s really not the way it works.

It costs a lot to keep an animal for the duration of their lives and someone who isn’t even willing to pay an adoption fee is suspect to me in their ability to provide a good home.

Obviously, this fellow wasn’t taking no for an answer and continued to argue his point, saying time and time again that he wouldn’t pay more than the $20 bill apparently burning a hole in his pocket.

The kicker is the pup he wanted was just the dearest dog. Sweet, unassuming, a real treasure for someone who knows how to look for the true value an animal can bring.

Eventually (this went on for a lot longer than you would have imagined possible), we had had more than enough and our shelter manager finally said, "Sir I’m confident we will find someone who is willing to pay $105 to love this sweet dog for the rest of her life."

And the perfect slice of poetic-justice pie came when, I’m not kidding, a man stepped up from the corner of the room and said, "I’d be more than willing to pay the adoption fee. In fact, I came here specifically to see this pretty girl."

A screenwriter couldn’t have scripted that better. I swear you could hear all of us in our heads go, "Yes!!"

Our gentleman friend (who had a lady in tow -- what a lucky woman! -- again, sarcasm) eventually left the shelter, not too terribly pleased with the course of events.

Honestly, if I live to be 80, I don’t think I’ll ever understand people. The general population never ceases to amaze me. And when you throw the well-being of animals into the overall craziness of the human race, that’s when the tales can get truly shocking.

For the animal-lovers out there, rest assured that the Cumberland Valley Animal Shelter will continue to fight, speak for and protect our furry friends. We work hard every day to make sure the right animal goes to the right home where he or she will be loved and get the best care for the rest of his or her life.

Even if it means upsetting "gentlemen" like that one.

Jennifer Vanderau is the Director of Communications for the Cumberland Valley Animal Shelter in Chambersburg, Pa., and can be reached at cvasoc@innernet.net. The shelter accepts both monetary and pet supply donations. For more information, call the shelter at (717) 263-5791 or visit the website www.cvas-pets.org.