MIDDLEBORO — It’s raining cats and dogs at the Middleboro town animal shelter, and at the Monday Dec. 11 Middleboro Select Board meeting, the board unanimously voted to increase the shelter’s animal adoption fees to better take into account the costs of caring for cats and dogs before adoption.

Before the vote, Middleboro Health Agent Kayla Smith explained that the shelter had charged $150 to adopt a dog. The new fee schedule that the select board agreed on has different adoption fees depending on the age of the animal being adopted.

Middleboro Select Board member Neil Rosentha said that charging different fees based on the age of the animal being adopted made sense because the shelter needs to provide more healthcare to younger animals before they can be adopted.

“Puppies, because they need more shots, should be the most expensive thing,” Rosenthal explained. He added that fees for older dogs should be discounted to encourage the public to adopt older animals.

Middleboro Town Manager Jay McGrail agreed with Rosenthal. “If it’s a kitten or it's a puppy, there’s more care associated with that and more cost associated with that, [but] when you get to the older dogs, we’re trying to find them a home.”

Smith said that 2023 was “the biggest year for adopting dogs” that the shelter had seen. 

In the past fourteen months, the shelter had found homes for fifteen dogs, according to a letter from Smith and Middleboro Animal Control Officer Kevin Racicot.

The new fee schedule that the board approved will now charge $300 to adopt a puppy, $150 to adopt an adult dog, and $100 to adopt a senior dog. It will also cost $100 to adopt a kitten, $50 to adopt an adult cat, and $25 for a senior cat.