In his debut bestseller “Marley & Me,” John Grogan explains how a dog can become an extraordinary presence in the life of one family. It all started when he and his young wife adopted Marley as a puppy. On Christmas Day, the bestseller becomes a movie, starring Owen Wilson and Jennifer Anniston.

With all this attention toward dogs and cats, and the adoption process of an animal from a shelter, one can’t help but wonder exactly what this entails.

Laura Powell, animal care supervisor for the Sumter County Humane Society, said, “The adoption process is pretty simple. A person can go through the shelter, the cat or dog section, and then they pick out the animal that they would like. They can go in the cat colony with the cats or outside with the dogs and play.”

Powell added, “Then they sit down with me or Tricia (Howard, acting director), for about 15 minutes, complete a survey, sign their contract, fill out the healthcare insurance form, and we microchip the animal, and bathe it if it needs a bath.

“We don’t do a background check. The person pays the $100 adoption fee, and if the dog or cat is over six months of age, we do a heartworm exam for $25; additional things can be done for $5.”

Powell continued, “This covers the care for the dog/cat, vaccination and other things, like the food they ate while we are here.

“Adoption fees are based on services we proved. We are a nonprofit.”

She said, “People can adopt between the hours of 11 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays.”

“I started working with my aunt, doing some pet sitting, and I fell in love with the animals, and I knew this was pretty much what I wanted to do,” Powell said. “I believe these animals need to be loved. They deserve to be loved, and find a home that they didn’t have the first time around. People don’t stop and think when they take on a pet, that they are taking on a lifetime commitment.

“You wouldn’t give your kids away because you moved into an apartment that didn’t let kids would you?”

For more information about adopting a cat or dog from the local Humane Society, call 924-0268.

Don’t forget to send in a picture of you and your pet and a brief paragraph about what you have learned from your pet to atr.editorial@gaflnews.com before Dec. 11 for the Times-Recorder’s Marley and Me Pet Contest.