Three-year-old Carl is new to the Chenango SPCA adoption floor and ready to find his forever home. The golden retriever mix is an 80-pound ball of love that is good with other dogs and indifferent around cats. Call the Chenango SPCA or visit during operating hours to meet Carl. (Photo from the SPCA Facebook page)

CHENANGO COUNTY — The Chenango SPCA, located at 6160 County Road 32 in Norwich, is seeking homes for 15 dogs and 58 cats.

To get started on the adoption process, Chenango SPCA Executive Director Annette Clarke said adopters must fill out an application, which can be found at ChenangoSPCA.org or at the shelter. Before the application is approved, references will be called, as well as the adopter's veterinarian to make sure their pets are up to date on vaccines and spayed or neutered, if applicable.

Once the application is approved, adopters can then pick out their new companion. Clarke encourages potential adopters to visit the shelter to meet the cats and dogs available, sometimes more than once to ensure the animal is a good fit.

"Especially with the dogs, we like them to come and meet them sometimes several times. It’s really hard to make a judgment the first time you meet a dog, or even a cat," said Clarke.

"We also like people to go home and think about it, make sure that they’re making the choice that they want to make. We don’t like it when animals come back," she added. "It's not good for the animal to leave the shelter and then have to come back to the shelter. So we want them to be kind of sure that this is what they want to do. And so usually we ask them to wait just 24 hours, and we can process their application, make sure everything is good, and then they can come in and pick the animal."

For those looking to adopt a dog who already have a dog at home, Clarke said they will also be required to do a meet and greet with both dogs.

"We want the adoption to be positive, and we want it to be successful, so they are required to bring their dog in to meet the new one before the adoption occurs," she said. " We’ll see what the meeting goes like, and watch the posturing of the dogs. And sometimes people walk away and shrug their shoulders and say, I guess they want to be the only dog in the house."

Additionally, if the chosen animal is not yet spayed or neutered, New York State law requires the Chenango SPCA to ensure all animals are fixed before going to their new homes.

Adoption fees are $155 for dogs and $100 for cats, if spayed or neutered. If the animal is not fixed, adoption fees are $55 plus surgery fees for dogs and $40 plus surgery fees for cats.

The SPCA has cats and dogs of various breeds, ages, sizes, and colors. Clarke said adoptions are most rewarding when a shelter animal that has been with them for a long time finally finds their forever home.

"A lot of times our favorites are when a very long-term animal has finally been adopted, because we feel bad that especially with cats that they may be a litter of three and two of them get adopted and one sits there and waits, and waits, and waits, and waits, and then finally gets adopted," said Clarke.

"We get very excited when one of our long-term animals gets a home, because some of them are there for nine months and it's like, it would be so nice to get them out of a cage and into a home."

To meet some of the animals available for adoption, visit the Chenango SPCA from 12 to 4:30 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday; from 12 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday; or by appointment on Sundays and Thursdays.

More information on the Chenango SPCA, the adoption process, and their adoptable animals can be found by calling the shelter at 607-334-9724, visiting their website at ChenangoSPCA.org or on the Chenango SPCA Facebook page.