Free to a Really Good Home: A Unique Adoption Strategy
According to a recent article in "The Times Leader", The Luzerne County, Pa. SPCA has launched an innovative and creative program to facilitate the adoption of cats over a year of age. From now through September 30, the shelter will waive their regular nominal adoption fee of $50.00 and offer their older cats through a unique ""Free to a Really Good Home" strategy.
In clarifying this "experimental" adoption program, Vince Sweeney, the executive director of the SPCA said, "It's not unusual for us to get 30 to 40 cats a day. We've got them stashed everywhere" With over 150 cats living at the shelter longing for loving, forever homes, this plan was initiated out of desperation.
S. John Wilkin/The Times Leader
Sweeney added, "We've never done this before. As far as I know, no animal welfare organization in Northeastern Pennsylvania has tried this, but we've tried everything else. We've begged people to adopt cats. Everywhere we go we mention the heartbreak of the cats. It becomes a matter of health and sanitation and we have to make terribly hard life and death decisions to euthanize."(Referring to the increase of cats surrendered to the shelter between the months of March and September.)
Older cats are generally more difficult to place than kittens since most potential adopters are drawn to the cuddly balls of furry energy. Through their special limited-time offer, the SPCA will give cat lovers a great opportunity to experience the very special joy which an older cat can provide. In contrast rambunctious kittens that can make even the most devoted cat lover's hair turn a bit greyer at times, mature felines can be a far more serene delight.
Sweeney added, "I find cats to be very interesting and in most cases very affectionate. They all have their own personalities and some of them are very quirky, so they are fun and they are fun to watch."
Sweeney explained the rationale for the "cat giveaway" program, by saying, "We never did make money on adoptions. By the time you have the animal here a few days, spay or neuter it and give it shots, you don't even break even. This isn't about the money. It's about the heartbreaking fact that there just aren't enough homes for all these wonderful cats."
Of course there are a few strict requirements for potential adopters. A few of these include:
- No animal leaves the shelter without being spayed or neutered.
- A potential adopter must be over 18 or have parental consent. Parents must be contacted by the shelter before an adoption can be made.
- For those renting their residence, the landlord's contact information must be provided. The landlord must provide permission the tenant to have a pet.
- A pre-adoption form is required I.D. in the form of a driver's license is preferred. The adopter must sign a pre-adoption contract promising that the cat will never be declawed.
To read more about adoption requirements, visit: http://www.spcaluzernecounty.org/adoptions.html
Feline fans are well aware that cats are lower maintenance pets than dogs. Cats thrive on an abundance of love and petting, good food, a wide variety of toys and a few scratching posts and a cat tree which affords the cat a place for vertical exploration. I am very hopeful that the SPCA's program will be highly successful and that many older cats will find forever loving homes.
If you are interested in adopting an older kitty from this shelter, please contact the shelter at: http://www.spcaluzernecounty.org/
What do you think about this unique adoption strategy? Leave a comment and share.
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Comments (7)
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Amy July 7, 2009 4:43 PM
Brilliant idea! Older cats are very loving and need homes just like the little kittens. I hope their idea is a huge success. Bless them!
jmuhj July 7, 2009 6:37 PM
For years, experts in the advocacy/rescue/adoption field have told us NEVER to offer "free to good home"; every fiber of my being cries out against this, but in this time of duplicity and sociopathy running so rampant, there simply is no guarantee a prospective adopter will be kind and decent. The answer to the problem? Change society from the ground up, of course. But the beautiful, loving, loyal and precious cats simply can't wait. SPAY/NEUTER is a big part of the solution, of course. No one in advocacy can ever stress that enough. The other part is, of course, to stop the media and whomever else is doing it from shoving dogs down the public's throats. It has meant a holocaust for cats, and it needs to STOP.
Skylark July 7, 2009 9:02 PM
What a great idea! I plan to forward this to our local humane society. They have a renovated trailer that is full of adult cats just waiting in limbo for someone to come and adopt them. How great would it be for all of them to be adopted...without adoption fee currently being charged? Follow-up in-home visits would have to be a mandatory part of these adoptions, of course, to make sure the pets are being well cared for.
Ruth Hagenbaugh July 7, 2009 10:04 PM
This SPCA is right by my home. My cat that I have now I adopted from this SPCA. They recently remodled and enlarged the cat area, but they are still very overcrowded. If only people would learn to spay and neuter thier cats, there wouldn't be such over crowding. I hope that this give away will help reduce the population of cats they have. Unfortunately, this isn't a no kill shelter so if they do have to many cats and dogs they do have to euthanize them. That breaks my heart but they simply can't afford to keep them all. They rely on donations to keep them open and if they kept all of the pets that came in, they would run out of food and space.
Ruth July 8, 2009 5:10 AM
Wonderful !Many older cats having the chance of a loving home. Best of all is adopters having to sign a contract not to have a cat declawed.The cruelty of it seems to be gradually becoming public knowledge and shelters refusing to adopt a cat out to would be declawers is a great way to help get the message over.
A glimmer of hope for countless cats !
Babz July 8, 2009 6:43 AM
As long as this is policed well and all potential adoptee's thoroughly vetted it is a brilliant idea and I hope many older cats get the chance of a loving home through it.I wholeheartedly endorse the compulsory neutering and non declawing clauses (pardon the pun) I'm just sad that some cats will still be killed without ever having someone special to love them.
Carole August 10, 2009 7:26 PM
I joke with my friends that I will be the old lady they find in a house with 20 cats....:) but I would make sure they were cared for and no feces on the carpet please. I want to know the name of a non-kill shelter for cats and CANNOT find one! Please share! I started out BUYING a bichon. (I would never do that again as so many are free or minimal charge) I then adopted a mix and OMG, so loving....then I adopted a cat.....she is amazing and was an older cat. I love my adopted animals, and you can also.......PLEASE ADOPT!!!! I BEG YOU!!!