Adoption fees

My recent retriever purchase cost $25 from a woman who found this dog starving and lost on a road. When no one reclaimed him, she took him to the vet and asked would I please pay $25 to repay her for the cost of the shots he gave, and of course I was delighted to do so, and this little guy has turned into a great family member.

I have adopted dogs from the pound before. The cost is generally about $50-$60 and is a terrific bargain: it includes shots, spay-neuter, heartworm test and first dose of heartworm med.

There is a growing trend of 'breed specific' rescues who pull dogs from the pound and then go to a private vet to have the shots and spay-neuter done. This ofter increases the adoption fee to $200-$300.

In addition, there are other groups who adopt out mixed breeds for several hundred dollars after the necessary vet care is done through a private vet.

Finally, there are people who don't do anything for the dog and charge several hundred dollars in adoption fees when it is actually a sale.

What do y'all think?

The breed-specific rescues have always been there, they just seem to be getting more visible. The breed rescues, as a generality, do indeed take in dogs from the pound, and do charge greater adoption fees than the pound would. However, most are being pulled from high-kill shelters where if the breed rescue doesn't get them out and publicize them, they may not get out. Most breed rescues do a lot deeper temperament testing and such to make sure they will end up matching the right dog with the right home, some have networks set up to pick up and deliver these dogs across states. They also often will take in "special needs" animals that many shelters wouldn't even consider adoptable, because it would just take too much time to find someone who is willing to treat whatever happens to be the problem with the animal, and sometimes keep or foster the animals for months before finding the RIGHT home. In general, they truly do incur a lot more expenses, so I can see their justification in charging a bit higher fee.

It really, really burns my butt when I see people advertising animals as "rescues", and then say all they want out of it is "what they have put into it, $800.00 or so." When I take on a rescue.....it's just that, a rescue. I'm looking to help that animal out, not make money or even recoup what I spend on it, as a rule. I am very thankful I have a wonderful vet who basically charges me his costs only for the worst of these rescues....but I still can't tell you how much money I've put into some of these critters that no one else wants to help.......and then given them to a good home in the end. It's my choice to take a total loss on what I've spent, but saving a life is my reward.

When I think of dogs being rescued, I always hope they will find their way to someone like you, Cathy.

I have to say that while I understand the higher adoption fees of the breed specific rescues, the people who charge several hundred dollars for a dog they have not done anything with irritates me. There seems to be a brisk trade in Chihuahuas in the area, people selling them after finding them, or for friends, etc. I don't understand the predominance of the breed locally but there are tons of them around.

Believe me, I understand what you're saying Lucille, that's what I was trying to convey in my second paragraph.....but I tend to go off on a tangent (rant?) about this particular topic.....

Not a dog, but here's one of my more recent "serious" rescues. A lovely black kitty, beaten half to death, one eye gouged out, and the other eye damaged. I took him in, had his eye removed and the "good" eye doctored up....neuter, heartworm test, shots......doctored him at home for months...and then gave him away. I won't post the "before" pics, as they are quite graphic, but here's the afters.......we named him "Willy".

You are very special. Willy would have probably died a lonely, painful death but he looks fat-n-sassy now and I'm sure he rules the roost wherever he is, like cats do.
Bless you.

I work at one of those high kill shelters and it disgusts me that people think that our adoption fee is too much. Not to mention how fast they are to dispose of their animals simply because they no longer want them. I do feel that an adoption fee is extremely necessary no matter how much it is. If no fee is imposed then people tend to feel that the animal is disposable or even worse, subject to creulty as it holds no value to them. I currently have an animal that I adopted as he was close to being euthanized in our shelter. My dogs refuse to accept him and I am forced to put him up for adoption. It is not right that he cannot feel safe in my house because of my other dogs. He was born in our shelter, was adopted for about a month as a tiny puppy then returned. He has no idea what it was like to be in a home environment before me. I refuse to return him to the shelter I work at because he will most likely be euthanized. I also refuse to just give him away to just anybody because of the horrible things that people will do to a free animal. I wish more rescues would come and help the dogs in our care as they are all amazing animals. I have recently attended a seminar reguarding animal behaviors and personalities and found some great ways to help our shelter to place more animals. I am just grateful that in our county we are blessed enough to even have an adoption program. In just the next county over they do horrible things to the dogs and they never stand a chance if the owner does nto pick them up within 5 days. I feel that no fee is too high if someone is willing to pay it. Just think of how much they charge for a designer mutt in your local puppy mill store! People paying $1200 for a goldendoodle, or whatever flavor of the month it is. It's not purebred but they are willing to pay it. Why do that when you can just go to your local shelter and save a life for a whole lot less and still get a mix breed. We have purebred AKC registered dogs just sitting in our kennels waiting for a chance. 20-30% of all dogs ending up in shelters are purebred. Oh I better stop, I could go on for days....

i got lucky 6 yrs ago when my aunt ran the humane society they got in a golden retriever who was abused and well very hyper the rescues didn't want him and was only a few days away from having to be put down so she called my dad and i we reluctantly took him boy am i happy we did he is still with me and is the best dog you could have not to mention my two kids adore him best part is we got him fee free.

Some people say "adopt" when they are selling. Annoying, but not illegil. If you are willing to pay $800 for a dog that hasn't had shots and any vet care, well, your choice. And if you pay someone $800 for a mutt and you love him, and then you find out that the shelter would have charged $50, then so what? If you were happy before, you should still be happy.
MY big grief is people who say they have "rescued" a pet from a pet store, when they BOUGHT it. That is not a rescue. That is a purchase.
I've taken in and re-homed a lot of animals, and I do charge a fee, and they leave nuetered, shots, vet-checked etc. It is usually a nominal fee, "to pay for the next poor critter in line". But the real purpose is it is no longer a "Free" animal, same reason as stated by Bar None Reptiles.
Wolfy

I just wanted to state that I have been part of a breed rescue program. They do a lot of good. We have pulled from high kill shelters. Taken in dogs from families that just never seem to realize that that cute puppy is going to be a 90lb dog and need training. They never thought that it would knock over their two year old. geez. Yes we have "Rescued" from stores but it's rare. We try to give the store informative materials first to hand out to the buyer about the breed, nothing bad just helpful information. We check the animal over and ask to see the papers so we know which puppy mill they came from. If we see a health issue we point it out to the pet store and hopefully they will act on it. A problem with my breed..Rhodesian Ridgeback, is they are subject to dermoids which is life threatening if not removed. Some vets do not even know to look for this not being familiar with the breed. A member of our rescue found one on a puppy mill dog in the pet store and told the store manager. They blew her off. We watched the store and just hoped noone would buy this $1,200 dog. Needless to say noone did. They started to put this poor boy on sale. We waited. He was at $600. I told him I could get him out that door for $300 (what I know they paid). I went in. Played dumb. Got the health guarantee in writing where it states they will pay the cost of of health care if there is a problem provided they can't fix it. Dermoids are only removable by a specialist. I got the dog for $350..OK $50 profit for the store...NOT. Called the store with a real vet report stating there was a dermoid and the puppy needed a specialist asap. Of course their vet couldn't fix it so off to the proper vet. $650 later (the store had to pay..I had it in writing) and 2 months down the road we now have a healthy dog that we adopted out for $300.
Paid $350
got reimbursed for the $650 surgery
gas-member donated
recovery nursing-member donated
--------------------------------
Store lost $300...they learned....
we were behind $50 cash
New permanent home for puppy....PERFECT!!!!

That is how rescue will "rescue" from a store and why the rescue fee is what it is.

Originally Posted by Beardie

I just wanted to state that I have been part of a breed rescue program. They do a lot of good. We have pulled from high kill shelters. Taken in dogs from families that just never seem to realize that that cute puppy is going to be a 90lb dog and need training. They never thought that it would knock over their two year old. geez. Yes we have "Rescued" from stores but it's rare. We try to give the store informative materials first to hand out to the buyer about the breed, nothing bad just helpful information. We check the animal over and ask to see the papers so we know which puppy mill they came from. If we see a health issue we point it out to the pet store and hopefully they will act on it. A problem with my breed..Rhodesian Ridgeback, is they are subject to dermoids which is life threatening if not removed. Some vets do not even know to look for this not being familiar with the breed. A member of our rescue found one on a puppy mill dog in the pet store and told the store manager. They blew her off. We watched the store and just hoped noone would buy this $1,200 dog. Needless to say noone did. They started to put this poor boy on sale. We waited. He was at $600. I told him I could get him out that door for $300 (what I know they paid). I went in. Played dumb. Got the health guarantee in writing where it states they will pay the cost of of health care if there is a problem provided they can't fix it. Dermoids are only removable by a specialist. I got the dog for $350..OK $50 profit for the store...NOT. Called the store with a real vet report stating there was a dermoid and the puppy needed a specialist asap. Of course their vet couldn't fix it so off to the proper vet. $650 later (the store had to pay..I had it in writing) and 2 months down the road we now have a healthy dog that we adopted out for $300.
Paid $350
got reimbursed for the $650 surgery
gas-member donated
recovery nursing-member donated
--------------------------------
Store lost $300...they learned....
we were behind $50 cash
New permanent home for puppy....PERFECT!!!!

That is how rescue will "rescue" from a store and why the rescue fee is what it is.

You rock!!!!
I have no problem with rescue fees where the fee is used for helping the dog, the substance of the original thread is where you see ads where someone says they 'rescued' a dog and then charges $300 and has not done anything for the benefit of the dog to justify the fee- no shots, speuter, nothing.
When someone has worked as hard and as smart as you have, the money is well spent and of course you deserve reimbursement.