By state law, an animal entering an animal shelter as a stray must be held for a minimum of 7 days before being adopted or euthanized. Animals surrendered by their owners can be made available for adoption immediately.
There is no set time limit or expiration date for the animals at the shelter. In general, as long as the animal remains adoptable, the animal is coping adequately with the stress of shelter life & there is space to humanely house the animal, we will continue to provide shelter & care for the animal and to make every reasonable effort to find the animal a good home or a place in a reputable rescue.
Unfortunately SJRAS can not offer this option to the public. You will need to contact a veterinarian to have your pet put down.
SJRAS DOES offer the option of disposing of your pets remains, or cremation service. You may call ahead for info, or find the information here on our website.
Shelter animals are provided with vaccines, heartworm tests (for dogs), internal & external parasite control, microchips, ID tags, nutrition, as well as the cost of performing the spay/neuter surgery on each pet when it gets adopted. The adoption fees cover only a portion of the cost of these items. Please also keep in mind the other costs associated with operating a facility including utilities, supplies, insurances, staffing etc.
If you think our prices are high, please research the costs of the medical services provided to our adopted pets if you were to go through your local veterinary office. You’ll find that the cost will be much greater than our adoption fee.
We often try to hold special adoption price breaks/incentives in order to get animals into loving homes more quickly, but we can only do this as funding allows.