McMinnville Animal Control’s adoption fee is now $85 per dog and the policy has changed to require all animals be sterilized before they are adopted.
City officials unanimously approved the change Tuesday night. Voting in favor were Mayor Jimmy Haley, Vice Mayor Ben Newman, and Aldermen Mike Neal, Jimmy Bonner, Ryle Chastain, Steve Harvey and Everett Brock.
Newman voiced approval for requiring spaying and neutering before the animals leave the facility and questioned if the fee was similar to that of the county’s Animal Control.
“It is exactly like the county’s fee structure,” said city Animal Control officer David Denton.
The city’s adoption fee for its dogs was $25, plus a $50 sterilization deposit that would be refunded once proof of the procedure was provided, while the county’s adoption fee is a flat $85 for dogs and $65 for cats and the policy requires the animal be spayed or neutered before leaving the facility.
In asking for the changes before the city’s Street and Sanitation Committee in March, Denton said very few of the people adopting from the facility ever returned for their $50 deposit. However, they did return with puppies from the dog they never got sterilized.
“In five years, we have had two come back and ask for their $50,” he said. “They just don’t go do it. This way, when the dog leaves, it is sterilized and we don’t have to worry about it. Before, we were getting a lot of puppies. People would come in and say, ‘We adopted the dog from here and now we have a litter of puppies we don’t want.’ Then, we have anywhere from six to 12 more dogs we have to find homes for.”
The policy now in effect after receiving board approval requires Denton to take the dog being adopted to the vet. Once the dog is sterilized, the dog can be picked up by its new owner. Unlike the county facility, the city facility does not house cats.