SEARCY — Though some children and adults might want to wake up to a puppy or kitten under the tree with their name on its collar, potential pet parents need to remember the responsibility that comes with all of that cuteness, said Cynthia Poskey, supervisor of the Humane Society of Searcy.
“I think a lot of people adopt a pet, especially around Christmastime. They’ll adopt one for someone else, and then we end up getting them back,” she said. “That’s a major mistake people make.”
Poskey said the Humane Society wants the adopted pet back if that is the situation that occurs when a family or individual takes a pet home.
“If you’re adopting a pet for someone, they might not be as excited about it as you are,” Poskey said.
Individuals adopting pets for another person need to make sure the recipient wants a pet.
“It’s a big responsibility,” she said.
There are approximately 90 pets available for adoption at the Humane Society, and Poskey said this is normal for the shelter at any time of the year.
“We get [the pets] out of here as fast as we can,” she said. “Our adoptions have been really good for the past year. We went from 30 to 40 adoptions a month to in the 60s.”
Poskey said the number of animals is quite normal, but there isn’t really an influx of pets at any given point in the year.
“It’s pretty much a steady flow year-round,” she said.
The number of puppies and kittens is larger this winter than it usually is, Poskey said.
“Normally, we have a lot of puppies and kittens in the springtime, but this year, we’ve had them all year long,” Poskey said. “That’s a little odd for this time of the year.”
If a person does end up getting a dog or cat from the Humane Society of Searcy, Poskey said, the adoption process is easy.
“It’s a simple process, and it doesn’t take but 10 minutes at the most to do it. It’s picking the animal out that is what takes longer than anything,” Poskey said.
The animal’s new owner pays $50, which covers the cost of adoption and a spay-and-neuter voucher.
“If you get an animal from us, it has to spayed or neutered, but if’s it’s not old enough to be done yet, we send you a certificate, and you bring [the animal] back when it’s old enough, or you can take it to your vet,” Poskey said.
The vouchers are good for $30 off of either procedure at a veterinarian’s office or will cover spaying or neutering at the Humane Society of Searcy.
“All of the vets from Searcy volunteer their services [to us],” Poskey said. “They’re all great, and we love every one of them. We’ve got a lot of respect for what they do.”
More information about adopting a pet from the Humane Society of Searcy is available at www.petfinder.com/shelters/hss.html or by visiting the society’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/HumaneSocietyofSearcy.
Staff writer Lisa Burnett can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or lburnett@arkansasonline.com.