Adoption fees

I can see how charging a small fee to adopt out a dog or cat can discourage bunchers. But for reptiles, how will asking for funds when adopting out an animal assure a good home?
I think people whether selling or adopting should always retain the right not to make a sale to a particular person. But to me, there are criteria more important than whether the required fee can be paid, if it is an actual adoption.

I am trying to rehome a monitor I nursed back to health. Originally I put it up at a price of $55 to try and recoup some of the vet bills. I finally decided to make it free to whoever wanted it....BUT....there is a catch. I am not going to give this animal to just anyone. It will only go to a proper keeper. I also will not ship it.
I can see a small fee to recoup something but the ones that put a retail price up as an adoption fee are just selling it IMO. The fee really only helps offset some of the expense put into bringing the animal back to health. However, finding the right home should be more inportant than taking in the fee.

I saw an ad this morning here from someone who wants free turtles. I took a look at his past posts and sure enough there were buying and selling turtle posts.

I actually have nothing against rescues who adopt and then after spending time and money on the critter, asking an adoption fee to help cover part of their expenses. (Not to 'make sure it gets a good home')

Originally Posted by Lucille

I saw an ad this morning here from someone who wants free turtles. I took a look at his past posts and sure enough there were buying and selling turtle posts.

There seem to be a lot of people that will take in free animals, or are always asking for free animals, and resell them. I think asking a small adoption fee prevents this and reduces profit margins for flippers.

There was a guy on CL a couple years ago selling a pastel that he "bred." I emailed him and it was a great deal and it was even het for albino to boot! I set up a time to meet with him and went on CL again to find a long rant from the REAL breeder stating that he gave this pastel to this guy just last night because it was a non-feeder under the condition that he wouldn't resell it. I emailed the breeder and talked to him about the animal. Come to find it it wasn't even het for albino and had not ate since hatched. The seller never responded to me again after that second ad was posted.

Also, there are what I call "collector-snake rescues." These appear quite often on CL and they usually are asking for unwanted snakes, sick snakes, "oh I have plenty of room and cages" yadda yadda. I did the CL thing for a while and it seems like quarantine is non-existent if you aren't on internet forums (weird I know). I would go to look at a snake and some people would have tons of snakes in a room that they got for cheap or free or last night! I love to talk about my collection and so do others and I often find out more than I want to know. I feel these people are a problem and spread disease and will sell snakes that can further spread diseases. I would never give away a free snake to someone I didn't know and I always go out of my way to flag any ad that is asking for a free animal. There is just something wrong to me about asking for a free life.

Sorry, I know I should put all this in one post but I have more thought. Value. If someone spends all their money on a car, they are most likely going to treat that car with respect, take care of it, wash it, maintain it. They have a vested interest in that object. When something is free, it seldom holds value or even respect in some cases. It's the same reason someone ask for a fee, because they put time and effort into it. When I use to get free rags when I was a mechanic, I would use them and throw them out. Now, years later, when I work on my own car and buy my own rags, I wash them and reuse them. It's human nature.

Now, asking a fee for an animal that is sick or needs help pisses me off more than anything.

Ticks me off a bit too.
Lots of pet shops will put ads on CL too it seems.
I also see a lot of rodents and even puppies and kittens with ridiculous "adoption fees" so that they "don't end up as snake food"
Load of BS.

I get the 'recoup rescue fee', but I remember seeing one dog having a rescue fee of $300.
$300 is what people pay for champion bloodline and trained dogs around here.
True Rescues usually charge <$100.

Horses though, >$300. Forget the fact that they are begging for more room as they have a certain horse for adoption at $700..... Most people are just giving horses away...

Originally Posted by Kotori

... Most people are just giving horses away...

Yeah I feel sorry for horses right now. Decades ago I had horses and the cost was manageable even counting feed, board, farrier, vet visits, etc.
Now keeping a horse can run into serious money, grain costs a lot more, gas to get to the stable costs, and a lot of people who had a horse before just can't manage one now especially if there is unemployment in the family. As a result, your everyday horse just isn't selling well and as Morgan said in some instances people will gladly gift a horse at times to mask sure it gets a good home.

We charge rehoming fees for our adoptable animals not just to dissuade people who just want a free herp, but also to help cover our massive vet bills. I've actually been looking for ways to get our fees a little lower by finding other fund-raising outlets but it's tough. Vetting the adoptive families goes a lot father to assure a good home than anything else. None of our animals go out before they've completed a 30-day quarantine, or are completely healthy, whichever is longer. We really have to be careful adopting out igs because there are guys around here who will try to get big ones for cheap and then actually butcher them and sell the meat to taco stands!