$650 to adopt a dog at council shelter

It will cost as much as $650 to adopt a dog at Warrnambool's animal shelter, with the city council voting to set fees and charges after taking over the operation.

Journalist Katrina Lovell reports charges have been "streamlined" to make it more "practical" with the cost of adopting a cat as much as $235.

But the council says it will continue to operate the facility in the "same spirit" as the RSPCA.

In other news, a shortage of general practitioners is leaving some long-term patients out in the cold.

The Standard has spoken to a number of south-west residents who have been advised they are no longer a client of the clinic they had regularly attended because there had been a long period of time between visits.

One south-west woman said her husband was shocked when he was told he could not book an appointment at the Warrnambool clinic he had attended for years.

"He was told they could not accept his booking because he had not attended for a while and would therefore be considered a new patient," she said.