15:08
I often see people on social media complaining about the price of adopting pets. "There wouldn't be so many looking for homes if they didn't charge so much!"
But it definitely helps curb some of the impulse buying/adopting by having that higher price to even get the animal. Someone who has to spend ~$200 for a kitten (my youngest was $180) is more likely to put serious consideration into it than someone who gets one free from a coworker
I don't know what it was like in Singapore, but here in early/mid-2020 we had a lot of people with extra time and extra money thanks to all the stimulus checks being handed out, which would have reduced that barrier for the more impulsive types
So we had similar issues here, with increases in abandonment and surrenders as people headed back to work (I never understood why "abandonment" was "easier" than "surrender," if I had to separate from my cats I'd want to be sure they were safe)
People had money to burn and $200 for a kitten wasn't enough to make them say "well that's a lot out of my budget" anymore. And then, when that kitten scratches the couch because they didn't buy cat furniture, or pees on the bed because they didn't clean the litterbox or take it to the vet...
At least the ones through most rescues/shelters here are chipped. I don't think we have any actual laws requiring microchips in pets, but rescues and shelters tend to do it anyway
