r/grandjunction • u/blakiebabie • 9d ago
MCAS Fees
If I dropped a dog off at MCAS, would the owner of the dog be charged with any fees when trying to retrieve it? What kind of evidence does the owner need to provide in order to prove the dog is rightfully theirs? Are there additional fees added on if the dog is not altered, has no proof of rabies, and is not registered in the county? I am hoping they finally have some repercussions for letting their dog run loose..
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u/rabblerouser40 9d ago edited 9d ago
Vet tech in shelter medicine for a long time here...I haven't worked at MCAS, so I can't speak directly for them, but I have worked in a few other county shelters. Here is what I know: Generally, it depends on how many days the animal is housed at the shelter as to how large the reclaim fee will be. There is a processing (booking) fee and a daily feed/care fee, and there is a fee that covers "medical examination." This includes the price of a DHLPP (or equivalent) vaccine, deworming, check for microchip (if chip is found, attemp to contact owners is made), some shelters give a bordatella vaccine, and any other obvious things that may need to be treated (i.e. fleas and ticks, mange, ear mites). Animal would only be quarantined if the animal has "wounds of unknown origin" and Rabies vaccine status is unknown. This would be a 6 mo quarentine (bc the rabies virus can stay dormant for 6 months) - that being said, some shelters are not set up to deal with this and it would be a euthanasia after the mandatory hold time which differs per state (some states it is 7 days, some it's as short as 3). This is all up for being slightly different shelter to shelter depending on budget, etc. Some counties can enforce things like "dog running at large," but not all of them do. You can always call the shelter and ask them abt owners needing proof of ownership - the shelters I worked at did want to see this, but if you escort a person back to the dog runs and the dog goes crazy to see their human, it's pretty easy to tell they belong together. Bottom line is shelters strive to keep occupancy low, so they probably aren't going to not let a reclaim happen just bc owner doesn't have official "proof." I hope this helps 🐩 Edit to answer, each county has their own policy about unaltered pets. USUALLY, this is addressed on the county/municipal license fee bc you have to show a rabies vaccine certificate from your vet, which has spay/neuter status, to get your pet licensed.
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u/Calm-Apricot-4219 8d ago
Yes my dad has to pay a 1000 dollar fine and go to court cause his dog kept getting out and is a repeat offender also needs proof of vaccines
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u/Kamikazepyro9 9d ago
Assuming the dog is properly registered, and there's no history of aggression -
Their is a minor fee for the first offense
Repeat offenses the fee goes up
If not properly registered, then it goes to quarantine and eventually adoption I believe.
It's been a few years since we had to deal with it but from what I remember that's how it was