IACC Breaks Single-Day Adoption Record, stimulates community

With news coverage from all the local TV stations, Indianapolis Animal Care & Control's $4 adoption event on July 4th was a smashing success. People could come to the shelter, or to any of the Petsmart stores where IACC animals are available for adoption and adopt a dog or cat for $4. That price includes spay/neuter, vaccinations and even an identification microchip! At noon it was reported that the IACC parking lots were full and cars were backed up all the way out to Harding Street! The lobby was packed and the kennels were crowded with people eager to pick out a new member for their family (see news story and video clip from Channel 6 or Channel 13.)

When the day was done over 150 cats, dogs and even fish had been adopted! Humane Society of Indianapolis held a similar event running for several days and adopting animals for $17.76. While Humane Society for Hamilton County wasn't running any adoption specials, a volunteer there reports that people came in asking if they were running the special and many of them stayed and looked at animals anyway.

There are always critical voices, particularly within the animal welfare community that claim that these kinds of events send the wrong message by saying that pets' lives aren't worth more than $4 or $17.76. The mantra for adoptions from the animal welfare community has long held that the higher the adoption fee the "better" the quality of the adoption. While it's an interesting theory, it is just that -- a theory. It's also a theory that many people do not believe, and many people find offensive. Making such a statement implies that somehow a person's capacity to love and provide quality care for a pet is somehow tied to their willingness or ability to pay larger amounts of money for adoption fees.

Recently a story came to me of an owner wanting to surrender for reasons of convenience, a "purebred" dog for which she paid over $800. At the same time, there are people out there denying themselves medical care, food and even necessities to ensure their pets are provided with care.

There will always be some portion of people who will not care for their pets well or responsibly. There are people who do not provide proper care for their children, or have trash-strewn properties. There are people who drive unsafe vehicles in an unsafe way.  There are laws in place to prevent many bad things, but they still happen. But to cite examples of "irresponsible" pet owners as a reason to promote policies that make adopting a pet unreasonably difficult or expensive does more harm than good.  Animals do much better in homes than in shelters. And the longer animals stay in shelters, the greater their chances of becoming ill or developing behavioral problems. No amount of screening or background checking will guarantee that an adoption will end up well. It is guaranteed, however, that animals that are adopted into a home have a 100% better chance of staying in a home than animals that don't leave a shelter alive.

Huge kudos to Administrator Rae and the staff at IACC for making such a bold move. There is no doubt that everyone worked their "tails" off on July 4th, but the results are simply astounding!