Granola, the goofy and playful coonhound, runs through the yard of the Ingham County Shelter with Gummy Bear. Shot on August 16, 2021.
Putting a price on friendship seems impossible. The lifelong bond and connection feel invaluable and irreplaceable.
At the Ingham County Animal Shelter, however, you can find a new companion for as little as one dollar. The animal shelter has a promotion currently called Name Your Price pet adoption which lets people set their price for the animal they want to adopt.
The animal shelter is doing the promotion until Friday, Aug. 20 to try to increase adoptions because the shelter is currently at maximum capacity for the animals, according to the shelter’s community outreach manager Julie Hill.
“Summer is a very busy time for shelters, us included, and we are at capacity right now,” Hill said. “So, we are doing the Name Your Price adoptions where potential adopters can come in and name their price anywhere from one dollar and up to adopt a little dog or cat so we can get more animals out into their loving forever homes.”
The shelter is currently housing 43 cats, 28 dogs, eight turkeys and a chicken. Not all animals that are being taken care of are up for adoption though. Only nine of the 28 dogs are currently up for adoption.
Anyone that is interested in possibly adopting a pet can visit the Ingham County Animal Shelter website to see the animals that are up for adoption and set up a time to meet them in person at the shelter or visit them at the shelter right away.
“People are welcome to come in,” Hill said. “We always have our TV here in the lobby that has the current animals up for adoption. So, you can take a peek and see who interests you and we can set up a meet and greet after with whoever interests you as well.”
The shelter is at capacity because they have been holding animals longer on average this summer compared to past years. The average hold time for animals this year is around 14 days, Hill said, while last year the average hold time was about 10 and a half days.
“I mean, August has been slow,” volunteer David Brooks said. “Mid-July, August, kind of tapered off. Everybody's going on vacation. But our dogs go through here pretty quick. I mean, a lot of them go from stray hold, hit the adoption floor, a day or two later they're gone.”
Brooks said the normal high turnover rate and meeting new animals constantly is the best part of volunteering at the shelter.
“They go through pretty quick,” Brooks said. “I'm surprised, which that's the best part of volunteering; every day is Christmas."
All animals that are adopted from the Ingham County Animal Shelter are spayed or neutered before adoption and adopters must acquire a pet license during the adoption process.
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