Almost Like Buying A Car

Above, Sierra in the "kitten room" at the South Bay Pet Adoptions. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Yesterday was the first time I've ever adopted a pet from the Humane Society, known as the South Bay Pet Adoption center. We came close in 1968 following the death of our year-old cat Mitty by a car.

We went to the shelter in Hawthorne to adopt another cat, but before we entered the front door, some people were bringing some kittens to the shelter. Rather than go through the shelter, we got one of the kittens from the people. We named him Smokey. He lived to age ten. He died due to toxins from flea collars. Since then, we would never put a flea collar on a pet.

When I went to the South Bay Pet Adoption to pick up Sierra (they named her Claire), I was told that they wouldn't release her until she was spayed. The procedure will be done Wednesday and she would be released to me Thursday by the clinic.

That wasn't the end of it. I had to complete a form containing about 30-40 questions, such as: Will she be an indoor or outdoor pet? Are there other pets in the household? Do you have a roommate? If she should get lost, what would you do? And so on.

It asked if I had other pets during the past five years. I told them about Siren living to age 18 and that she died a little over a month ago. (Admittedly, I had to fight my emotions when talking about her.)

The form also had a spot to put the name and phone number of the landlord or building manager. Once I completed the form, they called my apartment manager to see if pets are allowed. Thank goodness she answered the phone and said yes. I kind of thought this was a bit invasive. But I can understand the questioning since there are so many irresponsible pet owners (my ex being one) who adopt animals and later take them back to the shelter or mistreat them.

But, once the form was competed and all, they give me an electronic toy. It is a revolving laser light that sends out a beam that a cat or dog can chase to their heart's content. (I am looking forward to seeing Sierra play with that!) Some food/treats. Toys and guide sheets on how to do this and that.

Along with all that, they gave me a form to bring to a veterinarian for her eight-day check-up. On the list was the clinic Amber works at. Also, she will be micro-chipped and there were forms for that.

The "processing session" ended when I paid the $110 adoption fee.

With all the paperwork involved, it almost seemed like I was buying a car.