The Norco City Council last week voted to give the city manager the authority to approve discounted pet adoption fees when the shelter reaches capacity.
“The Norco Animal Shelter periodically operates near or at full capacity, which can strain resources and impact the welfare of both canines and felines in our care,” Amanda Hamilton, deputy city manager, said at the December 3 meeting. “To proactively address these challenges, staff is proposing a pilot program that would authorize temporary adoption fee discounts for canines and/or felines when shelter occupancy reaches 85% or higher.”
Hamilton said the goals of the pilot program, which is set to run for the remainder of the fiscal year, were to alleviate overcrowding, shorten animal stays and increase adoption rates by reducing the financial barrier for potential adopters.
The shelter currently has kennels for 42 dogs and 55 cats. At the time of the meeting, Hamilton said the shelter had 20 dogs and 47 cats.
“We are actively exploring strategies to help these animals find their forever homes, and we believe this pilot program could serve as an effective tool to support that goal,” she said.
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The program, as approved, would allow for a 50% discount on all adoption and related fees once the shelter reaches 85% occupancy for a specific animal category. The threshold for cats would be 47, and the threshold for dogs would be 36. The discount would remain in place for up to 30 days, or until the shelter gets back down to a 50% occupancy rate.
If the shelter reaches 100% capacity, the program would allow the city manager to authorize an emergency discount that reduces the cost of adoption to the price of the license fee. That reduction would remain in place for up to 14 days, or under the shelter’s occupancy drops to 50%.
“Following each campaign, we will provide adoption reports to the city council to ensure transparency and track program effectiveness,” Hamilton said.
Currently, adopting a small dog that needed to be neutered would cost about $327. If the dog population hits the 85% threshold, adopting the animal would cost a little over $160. The cost to adopt a large dog that needed to be neutered is currently about $450, which would drop to about $225 if the shelter reached capacity.
“I just wanted to make sure that everybody understands that’s for the chip, that’s for the alterations, that’s for everything,” Mayor Pro Tem Robin Grundmeyer said. “So if you have a dog that is already there and [spayed or neutered], it’s not that fee.”
The council also voted to give city staff discretion in reducing fees for animals that have been at the shelter for extended periods of time. If the pilot program is successful in helping the shelter better manage its capacity, Hamilton said the pilot program may come back for the next fiscal year.
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