I'm furious, but before I send off a very angry letter to the humane society and the local newspaper here I want to make sure I'm not overreacting. I have never run a shelter and don't know much about them. The humane society here killed over 10,000 (YES- you read that correctly) animals last year. They adopted out a little over 900. SO when our cat ran away and I couldn't find a "free to good home" add in the paper for one, I decided to visit the HS. A few years back I got a puppy from there. They charged $25 for cats and $35 for dogs then. Yesterday I paid $95 for a stray cat that is almost a year old abd weighs 4.1 pounds, we fell in love with him before we realized he was almost $100. My boyfriend was furious that they killed so many animals last year and want so much money for a stray cat. (no special breed or anything) so we left. We had noticed that he had a caugh and nasal drainage though and I mentioned it to the employee at the desk and told her he needed to be examined and separated from the others. She made a quick call and while speaking with the other person she mentioned that they had no empty beds in their isolation area so someone would have to take him to the back. I didn't know what she meant, but knowing how many animals they put to sleep last year I felt my heart sink. We drove home minus one sick kitten and talked all the way home about him. We were both heartbroken that he was sick, but my boyfriend didn't have $100 on him to get him. (I had told him it was only going to be about $25.) Anyway when we got home I called and spoke to a supervisor to see if they would reduce his price since he was sick. They wouldn't, but they send them home with a certificate for a "free" vetrinary exam. She also assured me that he has been placed in an isolation area and that he was being treated. So, half an hour later, at 6 p.m. last night, I drove back up to the HS and bought him. He was still in the cage I had seen him in, with the other cats and had not even been seen. They said that he might have a mild respiratory infection and that he would be fine. OK skip to this morning. He spent the night curled up next to me on my nice warm electiric blanket. Sneezed all night. This morning he had diarrhea so bad it was stuck in his fur (he has long orange fur) So he had to get a partial bath (wrapped the poor thing back up in the electric blanket asap of course) Then I noticed he was mouth breathing , so less than 12 hours after bringing him home I'm calling the vets trying to get him in early on a saturday morning. Took him to the closest animal hospital where along with a massive mite infection he was diagnosed with an upper respiratory infection and a parasite infection (one I've never heard of) and that "free" certificate for examination of course only covered the $30 exam fee. I ended up spending another $100 for labs and meds. I'm furious. He received no medical care while in their care, according to the paper they sent home with him it says that he was last processed on 12/20 (he came in on the 18th) I'm assuming that means that he hadn't been looked at in the 7 days since he was "last processed" am I right to be so upset, or am I expecting too much. I'm not so much upset at the $95 that I paid for him, he's such a sweetheart that it was worth it. I think they would probably adopt out a lot more animals if their fee wasn't so high- but I think they were negligent in providing adequate medical care for him. I have never paid for an animal. My ferrets and my other cat were rescues and I happily have provioded for their every want and need over the years. In two days I have spent $200 on a sickly stray cat that spent ten days in the care of people that should have known better and provided better care. I'd really appreciate any opinions on this issue. Thanks, Melissa [Moderator's note: Ferret-related examples might be welcome here. But a prolonged discussion about how the Humane Societies and the general population deal with pet overpopulation would not be appropriate. BIG] [Posted in FML issue 4011]