A Volusia County man, who lost his dog, says his beloved pet was about to be killed over $80. The Humane Society keeping his lost dog wants him to pay up or else.

The man says he can't afford the fee; he doesn't get paid for two weeks. When he found out the dog was at the Humane Society, they told him it wasn't adoptable, meaning it was going to be put down if he didn't find the money.

A broken leash is all Roderick Watson found when he went to get his dog Coffee after feeding him Friday. The 8-month-old mixed breed puppy made a break for it.

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Through a microchip in the dog, Halifax Humane Society found Watson and called Saturday to say they had Coffee and he could come pick him up.

"I called ‘em back. They were like, ‘It's a fee of $78.’ I said, ‘Can I make payments on it?’ They said, ‘No,’” Watson said.

Watson, a student, won't have the money for weeks. Because Volusia County labeled the dog a pit bull, Halifax deemed it not adoptable, likely destined for euthanasia within days.

Halifax takes in 15,000 animals a year and said it has no choice but to collect the $80 fee, which it pays to the city that brings the dog in. They will help people with money on a case-by-case basis, but they're not set up to take payments, which could leave them on the hook for unpaid bills.

"We would have to contact the cities or contracting municipalities, but I doubt that that would come about,” said Michelle Pari, Halifax Humane Society.

Monday, Halifax said a new worker made an error and the dog would not be put down. Eyewitness News paid the now $101 fee to get Coffee back for Watson so he didn't have to see the dog adopted by someone else.

It was the second time Watson has saved the dog since he adopted it from Halifax in the first place this summer.