Adoption fee is waived for cats that are one year of age or older at the New York City's Animal Care and Control. The shelter has reached its capacity for housing cats and is desperately trying to find new homes for the feline creatures.
The idea of giving away free cats has worried many people since there have been kittens used as bait for inhumane purposes such as shark or marlin fishing. However, the shelter has stressed that they go through strict checking on every adopter and hold high standards in the adoption process. The reason for them to remove adoption fee is to raise the awareness of saving cats' life through adoption and the over crowded situation that many animal shelters are experiencing to date. They are hoping this free adoption policy will encourage more people who want to get a pet to come to the shelter.
Many cats end up being euthanized because they cannot find a home, and the shelter they reside in has limited room for all the new strays or feral cats that keep flowing in every day. Most of the no-kill shelters are constantly at full capacity.
The Humane Society of New York City is opposing the idea of free adoption fee. They believe adoption should be taken through strict screening on all perpective owners. Having to pay for a fee is considered as a token of donation for the shelter which in turn helps the shelter sustain its operation.
However, many animal rescue organizatoins have realized that since the number of stray and feral cats has mounted at a skyhigh rate, it is much harder to provide care and shelter for all the rescued animals. Waiving the adoption fee is a way to catch people's attention and it may help some cats to finally land a new forever home. Finding a home for cats nowdays has been much more challenging than ever.