Position:

The Regina Humane Society (RHS) is committed to finding good homes for dogs and cats. Successful adoptions are not dependent on payment of a fee. Fee-waived or reduced-fee adoption promotions have the potential to increase adoptions without compromising the quality of the animal’s life. All fee-waived or reduced-fee adoptions at RHS undergo the same adoption process as full fee adoptions.

Rationale:

Free pets are available from many sources in the community. By adopting from the RHS through adoption fee-waived promotions, pets entering the community are spayed/neutered, vaccinated, licensed and microchipped. It is a myth that fee-waived or reduced-fee adoptions will mean that the adopter may not provide a qualified home or love their pet. Just as ability to pay for an animal does not correlate to ability to pay for ongoing care costs, desire to access a free animal does not correlate to inability to pay for ongoing care costs.

Research confirms that fee-waived adopted pets are just as loved and valued as ones with a price tag. According to numerous studies:

• Attachment to pets was not decreased when adoption fees were eliminated.
• Eliminating adoption fees does not devalue the animal in the eyes of the adopter.
• There is no difference in post-adoption veterinary care received by fee-waived and non fee-waived pets.
• The surrender rate for adoption fee-waived pets is no different than that of non adoption fee-waived pets.