Reduced Surrender Fee Options
Reduced Surrender Fee Options
Due to the level of care, we provide for each pet during its stay with us we do require a surrender fee. While we never want to turn away an animal in need, these fees help cover the costs of caring for your pet until it is adopted, including food, cleaning, vaccinations, and medical care. However, we offer several fee reduction options to help lower the surrender fee. Our goal is to keep pets safe and find them loving homes while ensuring that financial barriers don’t prevent families from getting the help they need.
Eligibility-Based Fee Adjustments
| Eligibility Criteria | Fee Reduction Amount |
|---|---|
| Pet is spayed/neutered | $120 |
| Pet owner posts on Home-to-Home for 30 days | $80 |
| Pet has up-to-date Rabies Vaccination status | $10 |
| Pet has up-to-date Vaccination status | $10 |
| Pet is Microchipped | $10 |
| Medical records brought to surrender appointment | $10 |
Support-Based Fee Adjustments*
| Household Income (Percentage of Median Income) | Surrender Fee Reduction |
|---|---|
| 80% of median income | 20% reduction |
| 50% of median income | 50% reduction |
| 30% of median income | 70% reduction |
* Support-Based Fee Adjustments are only available for City of Tacoma residents.
For City of Tacoma residents, Support-Based and Eligibility-Based fee adjustments can be used simultaneously. For example, if your pet is spayed or neutered and your household is 80% of the median income in Tacoma, your surrender fee would be $200 versus the base $400 surrender fee. However, please note that surrender fees can never be reduced below $0.
FAQs
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How do I know if I qualify for Support-Based Fee Adjustments?
You can qualify for Support-Based Fee Adjustments for owner surrender fees if you reside in the City of Tacoma and your household income falls below 80% of the median income. Percentage of Median Income requirements can be found here.
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What is needed to receive Eligibility-Based Fee Adjustments?
You can qualify for Eligibility-Based Fee Adjustments if you live in the City of Tacoma or outside of our service area and if the pet you are surrendering meets one or more of the listed criteria.
- For spay/neuter criteria, we may ask for veterinary records showing the pet has received a spay/neuter surgery.
- For Home-to-Home post criteria, we may need a link to the posting on the Home-to-Home platform or the name you used to create the posting.
- For Rabies Vaccination criteria, we may ask for veterinary records showing the pet has received a Rabies Vaccine within the last year.
- For vaccination criteria, we may ask for veterinary records showing the pet has received any other core vaccine (FVRCP, DH2PP, or Bordatella) within the last year.
- For microchip criteria, we may need records that show your pet has been microchipped or our team will scan the pet for a microchip at the time of intake and verify that it is registered to you.
- For medical records criteria, we will accept any past veterinary records for the pet being surrendered.