NH Humane Society's Senior Project: decreasing costs for seniors to adopt and for older pets to be rehomed

LACONIA — Local seniors can now adopt from the New Hampshire Humane Society with a reduced fee through the organization’s new partnership with the national group Pets for the Elderly. Under the same program, the Humane Society will reduce or waive the adoption fee for anyone who adopts a senior dog or cat.

“We have been working on numerous new projects to reach underserved, overlooked community members,” said Executive Director Charles Stanton. This includes seniors, many of whom rely on pets for companionship. Additionally, older pets are far less likely to be adopted, meaning they spend more time in shelters. 

“It just makes sense to us that we would acknowledge both issues by being solutions-focused on each important cause,” Stanton said. 

Under this initiative, dubbed The Senior Project, the Humane Society aims to connect more senior citizens with companion animals as well as connect more senior pets with homes, Stanton said. PFE provides funding for senior citizen adoption fees and the Humane Society offers reduced adoption rates for senior animals.

Though it was publicly announced in late September, the Senior Project has been ramping up for about a year, according to Community Projects Manager Paige Dostie. Since the Humane Society first received the grant in January, the partnership has supported more than 50 adoptions by senior citizens.

PFE, founded in 1992 and expanding nationally a decade later, has facilitated the adoption of more than 100,000 pets through partnerships with 57 shelters in 35 states, according to a release about PFE’s partnership and partial funding of the Senior Project. 

The Humane Society’s grant from PFE funds a $50 discount for any senior adopting a pet. Those fees are typically $325 for adult dogs, $425 for puppies, $95 for adult cats and $150 for kittens.

“Especially for senior people adopting senior animals, it works out really great,” Dostie said, noting the fee for senior cats is $45, meaning a local senior citizen could adopt an older cat fee-free. 

Though many of those who received the discount so far were unaware of it before looking to adopt, Dostie said she felt that, with outreach, the program would open doors for many local seniors who previously faced budget obstacles to adoption.

In particular, Dostie is looking forward to joining forces with local senior centers, helping to connect interested residents with pets through the program.

While the Senior Project aims to also facilitate the adoption of senior pets through a discount, Dostie said the Humane Society has not struggled in recent years to find homes for older animals. 

“We have a very good community that likes to adopt senior pets and those with medical needs,” Dostie said. For many of these folks, a lower price tag “comes as a welcome surprise.” 

Most older pets come to the Humane Society because they are surrendered by an owner no longer able to care for them or because their owner dies, Dostie said, making them often easy candidates for readoption. 

Many of those who come in looking to adopt ask specifically for a senior pet or look to adopt the shelter’s longest residing animal. 

The Humane Society’s Senior Project joins a bouquet of outreach programs it offers, including those that house pets with domestic violence survivors, pet vaccine clinics, a partnership with towns and cities to provide pet food and supplies to local families and its spay and neuter program.

To see pets available for adoption, visit nhhumane.org.