Camden County Animal Shelter, New Jersey

The Camden County Animal Shelter is one of three animal shelters providing refuges for stray or unwanted animals in Camden County, New Jersey, United States, with the aim of substantially reducing the number of homeless animals.

The shelter opened its doors in 1997 in the effort of lowering the high amounts of animals in local shelters. Since opening its doors ten years ago, Camden County Animal Shelter has adopted out nearly 4,000 animals to new, loving families. If you are adopting a dog it costs $120, a puppy is $145, and kittens and cats are $90. The price for adopting your new pet also comes with: the rabies vaccine, DHLLP and Bordatella vaccine for dogs, FVRCP vaccine and FIV/FeLV test for cats, and the spay/neuter surgery.

You can not just walk into the shelter and adopt an animal, you have to meet a few requirements. These requirements include: proving that you are at least 21 years old by showing your driver’s license, you also have to show your address and if you live in an apartment you will have to bring a letter from the landlord giving his/her approval of the animal, prove that you will be the best owner possible for your new pet, and you also have to fill out the application form for the animal that you want to adopt.

Donations, in any form, are always welcome at Camden County Animal Shelter. Things that the shelter always needs include: wet/dry cat and dog food, treats, toys, choker collars in all different sizes, office supplies, paper towels, and latex or rubber gloves. Donations in the form of money are also always welcome to help the pets who are in the shelter. For a person to donate something, it doesn’t have to be something that you can touch, it can be something like donating your time. If you have an old computer, laptop, printer, or external hard drive rather than throwing it out, donate it to the shelter. If you are going to donate one of these items, make sure that it is no more than three years old.

Camden County Animal Shelter does not have a time limit for the amount of time a certain animal can stay in the shelter. The amount of time an animal stays at CCAS depends on the amount of space the shelter has for that particular animal. Camden County Animal Shelter has one hundred spots for dogs and 300-350 spots for cats. If the animals are not able to be adopted, then the shelter has to make a difficult decision: whether to euthanize the animal or not. This is the reason why the shelters are now encouraging pet owners to have their pet spayed or neutered.

Animals are not always reunited with their owners if they are lost; only around three percent of the lost cats and fifteen percent of the dogs are reunited with their families. These low reunion numbers are why it is so important for animals to have I.D. tags with the owner’s contact information and also have a microchip. It is very important to have these things on your pet because if someone finds it, you have a better chance of getting the pet back. If there isn’t a contact number, then you will most likely never see your pet again.

Sources:

Camden County Animal Shelter. www.ccasnj.org/. 31 October 2007. .
First hand interview with volunteer Michelle at Camden County Animal Shelter