Mayor Wayne Bedggood said 2018 had been another good year for rehoming animals and council was making a final push to empty the Scone Animal Shelter before Christmas.

When you adopt from the shelter in the Upper Hunter Shire, you only pay registration and microchipping fees – and you need to pay those for any pets, wherever you get them from.

Currently in Scone Animal Shelter there are four dogs (one female and three males all not desexed), three female kittens (too young to be desexed yet) and a couple of female cats (one desexed).

These are all great animals and will bring joy to the right owners - who can give them love, space and exercise (not so much the cats).

Make an appointment with the council Ranger for a “meet and greet” at Scone Animal Shelter by phoning 6540 1100 during office hours.

What does it cost to adopt from the shelter?

• Registration of a desexed dog/cat released by shelter $28.50

 OR

• Not desexed $207

PLUS

• Microchip fee (by council staff) $45

• CR3 Parvo vaccination for dogs is free

If an animal is desexed shortly after adoption, the $207 registration fee can be refunded and the $28.50 fee applied. 

The cost of desexing a large adult dog is about $200.

Council offers free desexing of cats adopted from the shelter so only the microchip ($45) and registration ($28.50) fees apply for cats.

In the past year, 13 animals were adopted from the Scone shelter, five were taken by rescue organisations and 22 were returned to their original owners who had lost them. 

One dog with a fatal condition, and two dogs that had attacked other animals, were euthanised in this time.

2017 was also a successful year for animal management in the Upper Hunter Shire.