As the adoption floor opened the morning that Penny’s puppies became available at the Lawrence Humane Society, the only frenzy to be had was with the puppies themselves as they scrambled for dog treats.

The puppies’ adoption debut Tuesday was highly anticipated after Penny gained fame on Lawrence social media when she ran away, pregnant, from her foster home in midwinter.

Travis and Ellen Jacobsen, of Lawrence, arrived an hour early to get first pick, but they ended up being the only potential adopters waiting specifically for Penny’s puppies. The puppies’ adoption fees are $500 each.

New pet owner Travis Jacobsen holds Quarter, the first of Penny’s puppies to be adopted Tuesday at the Lawrence Humane Society. Travis and his wife, Ellen, adopted the dog on the first day the puppies were available. Penny is a yellow Labrador mix who gained Lawrence social media fame when she ran away from her foster home while pregnant in February. Pictured in the background, waiting to adopt Quarter’s sibling Dime is Kaitlyn Suther, of Lawrence.

The calm atmosphere was the best outcome for the puppies, Lawrence Humane Society Executive Director Kate Meghji said. The higher than usual adoption fee was meant in part to make potential adopters stop and think, Meghji said, so that the adoption wouldn’t just be an impulse buy because of the puppies’ notoriety.

“We want them to go to good homes that are fully committed to them,” she said.

Meghji said the shelter has been doing variable pricing based on desirability — with factors such as size, age and breed being considered — since around 2012. Puppies usually cost from $200 to $800 while adult dogs range from no fee (because of a waiver) to $100, Meghji said.

“If we would have charged $200, we would have had a lot more people, and it would have been a mess,” Meghji said.

The $500 adoption fee will help recoup part of the cost of caring for the puppies, which Meghji estimated to be approximately $5,000 since they were born two months ago. After the costs of staffing, supplies and the building’s utilities, care for each animal at the shelter averages about $20 per day, Meghji said.

“Five hundred dollars is not us making a profit; it’s us losing slightly less,” Meghji said. “Adoption fees are really just a drop in the bucket.”

By the end of the day on Tuesday, two of Penny’s four puppies had been adopted.

“We are really invested in Penny, and it’s really joyous to see them going to these wonderful new homes,” Meghji said.

Penny, a yellow lab mix, was rescued by the state from a “sad situation,” according to the shelter’s website. She captured the attention of Lawrencians in February when she escaped from the foster home where she had been placed. Penny’s photo was shared hundreds of times on various social media outlets, and more than 1,000 people “liked” the “Help Find Penny” Facebook page. Volunteers found Penny near downtown Lawrence after four days of searching.

Two weeks ago, Penny, who has been spayed, escaped another foster home, that time avoiding capture for about two days.

Like other animals at the shelter, Penny’s four puppies have been spayed or neutered, vaccinated and given microchips, Meghji said. The puppies, named Nickel, Dime, Quarter and Bill (the sole male), were available for same-day adoption. Dime was adopted Tuesday by Kaitlyn Suther and Tim Dellwig, of Lawrence, who said they weren’t familiar with Penny’s story.

The Jacobsens, who picked Quarter, said they had already been looking for a dog when Penny’s story made the news.

“I’m excited for the fact that we’ll have a puppy together, and I do love Labs,” Ellen Jacobsen said.

As far as the adoption fee, which Travis Jacobsen said was comparable to prices they saw with breeders, they thought it was worth the chance to be a part of Penny’s happy ending.

“It comes with the story,” he said.