Dear Friends of Animals,

I’m writing to ask you for your support, but before I do I want to share a concern that I received by email recently.

This individual was looking at a puppy at TCHS that we had placed a $600 adoption fee on. They couldn’t understand why all our animals weren’t the same price, and they questioned whether it was right for a nonprofit organization to be charging what they considered “for profit” adoption fees. I replied at length to them, explaining the reasoning behind the different adoption fees, but then I got to thinking ... if one person is voicing this concern, others are likely thinking it. With that in mind, I’m taking this opportunity to share my response with you, too.

Last year, our operating expenses were just under $2 million. Revenue from donations and fundraising made up almost half of that, coming in at $941,368. We adopted out 4,000 animals, and if we were operating on adoption revenue alone, we would have needed to charge $500 per animal to keep our doors open. That’s $500 for every dog or cat, regardless of age, and every rabbit, guinea pig, bird, mouse, gerbil, hamster ... With fees like that, I’m guessing we wouldn’t adopt out many adult dogs, cats or small critters. BUT, when we put $500-600 on a puppy, they are adopted immediately.

The logic behind our adoption fees is simple: We charge what we think we can get, within reason, to try to recoup a fraction of what we put into each animal. (It is worth noting that our adoption fees include the costs of spay/neuter surgery, vaccines, deworming, microchips, flea/tick/ear mite treatment, and more.)

This is where you come in. Because we don’t charge $500 per animal, we depend on support from people like you to help us make ends meet. Beyond the basic veterinary care each animal receives, we can go above and beyond for animals with greater needs, thanks to generous support from people like you. You help us fill the gap with donations that allow us to provide exceptional housing, proper diet, and enrichment for the animals in our care. Donations and fundraising events also allow us to offer low-cost microchip services to the public to help us reunite lost pets with their families. The list of services we provide goes on and on, because of people like you. Please consider a gift for the animals today.

With gratitude for your support,

Marit Ortega
Executive Director
(320) 371-0871
ed@tricountyhumanesociety.org

P.S. Please join us at our Wine, Kibbles & Bids gala on May 1st! Details and tickets may be found here.