When I was pregnant with the twins, Hubby and I adopted our first dog together from there. A little Spaniel cross named Mindy. The adoption plus spay was under $100. She is still alive and well. My brother watched her for me while Hubby and I were both deployed during Desert Storm in 1990. When we came back, his dog had bonded with her and he wouldn't give her back to me. She has lived a wonderfully spoiled life with him and is now in her twilight years and still being spoiled.
After we came back from Japan 11 years ago we adopted a lab cross from the shelter. The adoption (she was already spayed) was $80. She was a wonderful dog, very easy to train, but should have been named Houdini. She could clear a 6' fence with room to spare and would be off leading us for a merry chase for hours. This lifestyle of hers brought about an end to her life. I don't believe in keeping a dog tied up when he or she is outside, and at the time the boys were all very little. She escaped one morning when I was juggling bottles, diapers, and getting all three kids ready for school/daycare. That was all she wrote.
A little more than two years ago, we adopted Rocky from this shelter. At the time, the adoption fee, plus neutering came in right around $150. He was an amazing dog, and we miss him terribly.
The fee's now for adoption have doubled.
Hubby and I talked about it, and realized that if we were going to pay that much for a dog, we would rather pay a little more than that and get a known entity. For a little more than what it costs to adopt from the pound, we can get a pup or younger dog in which we know the background, health history and temperment of the line it comes from.
Don't get me wrong, we have never gone wrong getting a dog from the pound. We have always been happy with, and loved the dogs we got from there. But for that much money, we want to know what we are getting!
I will continue to support this pound in all the fund raisers, and continued donations. It is a No Kill shelter, and they do a LOT of good work. Part of their mission is to work in tandem with a local prison to train some of the dogs that come through there as Service Dogs. But we will be taking another route for a dog this time around.