Rescue Fee's / Checks

[lesleyann]

Following on from my last pet "debate"

Whats your views on rescue cats and dogs.. Im always on the websites and I understand that things are costing more etc However in the last year or 2 Ive seen minimun donation prices shoot up from what was £50 and a spay contract to listed £200 Min with spay contract on a dog rescue website. On a cat one £80-£120.

Now I know how expensive it is to own one to it goes without saying if you cannot afford the fee how will you afford the pet..

But if your doing to be paying the same amount for say a 10year old cross as you can for a 8week old cross, surely this is not helping getting the dogs/cats out of rescues? I no in my breed unregistered/cross to pedigree can range from £100 - £800 in the local area. Now I know if I could buy a pup for £200 or a old dog whos history I dont know that might be on its way out im going to buy a pup who I can watch grow etc

Also most rescues ive ever been to/been involed with seem to have a very very strick policy of not "selling" their dogs to any home with a child under the age of 5, which can be sending 100's of people away from rescuing a dog and instead buying from a BYB (Back yard breeder) who churns pups out.


Do rescues ask for to much money/home check/family check? Do you think if the prices where lower or they would give to people on a per person guid rather than a flat out rule it would help our countries rescue situation?

 

[Eternal]

All the dogs we have have owned were pedigrees, so cant really comment.

Our first two cats were cat rescue and were fairly cheap i suppose, when one of our cats died we decided to get a pedigree, but also got given a rescue cat at the same time. So in total ive had 3 rescues, and 7 pedigrees (although one pedigree was a rescue too).

I generally would always choose a pedgiree because to an extent you know its history and have support of the breeder, with our cats, we know what we are getting.

But i agree, its crazy its so expensive to get a rescue cat, we often visit our local rescue centre and always make a donation, its crazy how expensive, pedigrees are expensive in comparison, we are really good friends with our breeder and our cats cost about £400 sometimes a little less, but she usually sell about £500 - £600 (thats with no breeding rights).

But as you say cats cost over £100 for a rescue, its crazy, I agree it should be cheaper. I often feel guilty for getting pedigrees and not just a cat from the cats home, but as i say i know what im getting with a pedigree.

i apprecaite the animals need looking after, but surley they can make it mroe affordable so more poeple could afford a pet.

 

[lesleyann]

Yeah we paid £450 with no breeding rights turned out our breeder had messed up and the KC had to lift the endorcements..

I remember when I was little a cross/mongral would be like £50 max now at times they can out price Pedigree's!

I just found another rescue which state Min donation £150-£250 and spay contract that you must spay as we do not at a cost of £200 via our local vets, If the dog is returned no refund will be given, even if the original owner wants them back"

 

[LoraLoo]

We 'paid' or 'donated' as they prefer to say! £70 for our dog, he is a Border x Bearded Collie and was 19 weeks at the time and I just fell in love with him. My children were 9, 5 and 5 months old at the time. He has been fantastic with them all and tbh I'd have paid more for a dog desperate for a home xx

 

[ahcigar1]

I agree with you. I am a firm believer in not supporting breeders and only buying at shelters/rescues. But I do believe that they are getting greedy with their prices and just charging too much. The last time bought a dog from one was during a special month where fee was waved and made a donation of what you could. We donated $50 cause that was literally all that we had at the time, otherwise would have put up a little more. And he has turned out to be a wonderful dog and is purebred. And even though we could only afford only that 50 at that time we have still been able to provide him with a wonderful safe loving home.

The thing that really urks me about many rescues is how strict they are. There are many here that will refuse to even consider you if you don't have a fenced in yard, own your home, no kids under 8 years old, and require home inspections on a monthly basis for the first year, and also want to charge upwards of 150-300 for the cat or dog. It is just ridiculous and I agree with you I think that they are loosing a lot of very good potential homes by their outrageous unrealistic rules and requirements.

Also I think that many of them need to stop lying about the pets and what their temperment is really like, just to get them out. I can remember one dog that I adopted from the shelter that they told us was completely house and crate trained, they knew this because the dog had been fostered. Also was told that was a real sweetheart and was not agressive at all. Brought the dog home and for a month it was absolute torture. Did nothing but pee and poop all over the house, also in his crate then would get it all over him. And everytime went to try to pet him or put leash on or do anything with him at all he would visiously bite us. I still have the scars from the dog. After going through all this took it back to the shelter to see if they could explain why they lyed to us and took our money for something that should never have been adopted out. They completely ignored us and proceded to tell us that we were animal abusers (which is the farthest assessment from the truth). So we ultimately did the only thing possible which was we took it to the local pound to be put down. We couldn't afford the money to have it done so we had them do it at no cost to us. We couldn't consiously give this dog to someone else knowing how aggressive he was, so only did the only choice possible.

So after having that type of experience I think they need to lower prices, stop requiring outragious rules, and stop lieing about the animals that they let out so they can actually go the the right type of home.

 

[NIfirsttimer]

i used to run a breed specific rescue, and we charged £75-£100 as a rehoming fee. I cant really see why this is considered to be expensive tbh, as the costs involved are huge, almost every dog would see a vet, at least for a check up, but usually vaacinations, worming and any other meds required, many required kennels prior to rehoming, and as we didnt own a premises this was at a cost of £8 per day. we were totally staffed by volunteers who did all home checks etc on their own time & petrol.
i couldnt disagree more that with a pedigree you 'know what you are getting' as there are SO many money hungry unscrupulous breeders out there that unless you pay absolute top whack ££, and carry out A LOT of indepth research, you really dont know whats been bred into those lines! My own boxer is obviously a rescue also, and while he has very impressive lines right up as close as his grandparents, one little 'slip up' in the lines has resulted in him having a serious heart complaint.

i do however agree that rescues have a HUGE responsibility to be honest about the dogs that they rehome. while it might be tempting to gloss over things and just be glad to see a dog being placed with a family, it is ultimately completely pointless if its not going to work out in the long term. we put considerable effort into assessing all dogs properly, and placing them in a suitable home, and as a result had a very low return rate, however there will ALWAYS be placements which dont work out, through no fault of anyone involved.

as for the rules. we had lots of people complain because we had deemed them 'unsuitable' for whatever reason, but i am a firm believer that rules should remain, they arent there for a laugh, but to try to ensure that the placement is successful!

 

[Eternal]

i used to run a breed specific rescue, and we charged £75-£100 as a rehoming fee. I cant really see why this is considered to be expensive tbh, as the costs involved are huge, almost every dog would see a vet, at least for a check up, but usually vaacinations, worming and any other meds required, many required kennels prior to rehoming, and as we didnt own a premises this was at a cost of £8 per day. we were totally staffed by volunteers who did all home checks etc on their own time & petrol.
i couldnt disagree more that with a pedigree you 'know what you are getting' as there are SO many money hungry unscrupulous breeders out there that unless you pay absolute top whack ££, and carry out A LOT of indepth research, you really dont know whats been bred into those lines! My own boxer is obviously a rescue also, and while he has very impressive lines right up as close as his grandparents, one little 'slip up' in the lines has resulted in him having a serious heart complaint.

i do however agree that rescues have a HUGE responsibility to be honest about the dogs that they rehome. while it might be tempting to gloss over things and just be glad to see a dog being placed with a family, it is ultimately completely pointless if its not going to work out in the long term. we put considerable effort into assessing all dogs properly, and placing them in a suitable home, and as a result had a very low return rate, however there will ALWAYS be placements which dont work out, through no fault of anyone involved.

as for the rules. we had lots of people complain because we had deemed them 'unsuitable' for whatever reason, but i am a firm believer that rules should remain, they arent there for a laugh, but to try to ensure that the placement is successful!

Well I do know what I am getting, but I know its not the same for all breeds or breeders.

I have birman cats, I had one rescue and 6 from the same breeder, all 6 had simular temperaments, i knew what to expect, obviously they are different and have different characters but they are all fun, clean, have i birman huff noise when they are grumpy, and Not one single one had scrammed. my husband is a gas man and often will see pet birmans in others homes, even though they are from different breeders the trait is the same. My mum also has them and a few friends and they again have teh same character traits.

My mother use to have newfoundlands, and again new what she was getting.

Although she also had a few german shephards and they were massively different.

So perhaps it depends on the breed, but I don know what i am getting when i purchase a birman cat. I sometimes feel guilty spending lots of money on a pedigree and not a rescue, but for us this particular cat suits our lifestyle, i like having our cats as part of the family and I like the attention our "beautiful cats" get from visitors.

My mother

 

[lesleyann]

i used to run a breed specific rescue, and we charged £75-£100 as a rehoming fee. I cant really see why this is considered to be expensive tbh, as the costs involved are huge, almost every dog would see a vet, at least for a check up, but usually vaacinations, worming and any other meds required, many required kennels prior to rehoming, and as we didnt own a premises this was at a cost of £8 per day. we were totally staffed by volunteers who did all home checks etc on their own time & petrol.
i couldnt disagree more that with a pedigree you 'know what you are getting' as there are SO many money hungry unscrupulous breeders out there that unless you pay absolute top whack ££, and carry out A LOT of indepth research, you really dont know whats been bred into those lines! My own boxer is obviously a rescue also, and while he has very impressive lines right up as close as his grandparents, one little 'slip up' in the lines has resulted in him having a serious heart complaint.

i do however agree that rescues have a HUGE responsibility to be honest about the dogs that they rehome. while it might be tempting to gloss over things and just be glad to see a dog being placed with a family, it is ultimately completely pointless if its not going to work out in the long term. we put considerable effort into assessing all dogs properly, and placing them in a suitable home, and as a result had a very low return rate, however there will ALWAYS be placements which dont work out, through no fault of anyone involved.

as for the rules. we had lots of people complain because we had deemed them 'unsuitable' for whatever reason, but i am a firm believer that rules should remain, they arent there for a laugh, but to try to ensure that the placement is successful!

I dont think the price that you have said is expensive however I think the problem is when rescues are asking pretty much the same amount of money for a dog/cat when you can buy a puppy/kitten for the same price and have it from day 1 and no its history.

Any breeder who does not register and health test is not worth buying from tbh! Like our litter mum and dad are both health tested, their lines have been checked so no crossover of a certain line witch does have health problems known in its lines. Yes our puppys will cost more than a rescue but you can trace back the parents/grandparents and have a registered dog which you know is good around children(as kyle is always playing with them) and will be able to train from day 1. I would never now bring a rescue dog into my home with children because you never know what could trigger a rescue dog..

My parents rescued a dog we found out his trigger was forgein people and I mean if they spoke differently or where not white he would bark at them and chase them etc My next door parents dogs trigger was kitchen roll middles he was scared of them so bad! All it take is for a young child to do something witch could be this dogs trigger which has not been noticed before and its game over.

 

[NIfirsttimer]

This can also happen with pedigrees too tho. I know of a very successful show dog who was put to sleep after attacking a child that he had lived with for a out 6 years with NO problems at all. Also, just registering and basic health checking of parents is not enough to prevent problems in future lines, it takes a proper knowledge of genetics which very few breeders have. I'm not suggesting that yours doesn't, just saying that it's east for people to be duped Into thinking that they know what they are getting because their breeder has registered dogs and talks the talk. If I ever have another it will absolutely be a rescue, and if it wasn't then I'd be expecting to put in months of research, spend considerable time on a breeders waiting list, and be paying upwards of £1500 for a pup.I'm sure I could go and buy a registered pedigree boxer tomorrow for about £500, but I'd have no more faith that I 'knew what I was getting' than if I brought a rescue home!

 

[DukesAngel]

Couple thoughts on this with just about all of my animals and rescues, mixed breeds, and registries. Warning this will be long winded.

I have currently chickens, dogs, and a horse that I own. My chickens range from mutts to purebreds, the dogs are mutts, and the horse is a registered purebred. Both of my dogs were adopted, the chickens were purchased as chicks from a hatchery, and the horse I purchased last year from a private owner.

With my dogs, one of them we adopted from a friend that could no longer keep her, so we incurred no new costs of adoption with her, we just started keeping her in our home. My other dog I found at a animal shelter that is run by the city. I did get him as a small puppy. His adoption was $70 5 years ago. They also did a home check to make sure that I could provide for the dog. I quickly incurred $250 on top of that $70 because he got kennel cough that quickly turned into a full blown lung infection. He also has hip problems and blew his knee out last year that we had to have replaced this Jan. He has bounced back and recovered from all of this and I wouldn't trade him for anything. Love this dog like he is my own child and he is a "mommas boy" 110%. (My husband comments that the dog loves me too much and I made him a sissy)

I do agree with the fee that I was charged to bring my dog home, the shelter paid for his well being and neutering before I brought him home. I think they almost did not charge me enough for the cost they incurred to keep him till I got him. I also agree with seeing the residence before adoption. This is a safegaurd to them that the owner actually has a place to take care of the animal. In my mind, there are plenty of ways to get animals without going to the shelter and without having to meet the strict standards that the shelter requires.

And my one more thing to say about this, shelters have such strict rules because they are trying to cover their own butts. They are trying to avoid anyone coming back and trying to sue them. Sure some of us understand that if you let a small child torment an animal, eventually the animal is going to have enough, but not everyone understands this. The people that don't understand are the people who sue. It's a liability to place an animal in a home with young children, they want to avoid this.

I know I do not let anyone under 8 on my horse nor do I let children under 8 around my horse. If the parents want to hold their child or if they want to do strict supervision fine, but I make them sign a liability waiver. Children do not understand animals and young children haven't quite made the connection on how animals will react. Same goes for dogs, the child isnt going to know why the animal bit him, just that the animal did. Shelters want to avoid this coming back to bite them in the butt.

 

[lesleyann]

This can also happen with pedigrees too tho. I know of a very successful show dog who was put to sleep after attacking a child that he had lived with for a out 6 years with NO problems at all. Also, just registering and basic health checking of parents is not enough to prevent problems in future lines, it takes a proper knowledge of genetics which very few breeders have. I'm not suggesting that yours doesn't, just saying that it's east for people to be duped Into thinking that they know what they are getting because their breeder has registered dogs and talks the talk. If I ever have another it will absolutely be a rescue, and if it wasn't then I'd be expecting to put in months of research, spend considerable time on a breeders waiting list, and be paying upwards of £1500 for a pup.I'm sure I could go and buy a registered pedigree boxer tomorrow for about £500, but I'd have no more faith that I 'knew what I was getting' than if I brought a rescue home!

Oh yeah I 100% understand there are people who believe a "health check" means dogs are ready to be breed from and that just having a KC dog means its great when it takes much much more than that One of our pups is going to an ex vet nurse that was purely looking at breeders for over 6months before she picked us as the people who where doing it properly (she has owned the breed before)..

I understand all dogs can turn but rescue's if they have been mistreated will have triggers which is just one more risk I wont take.

 

[cyclura]

It is the check list they have that stopped us from getting a rehome this time round. Our shelter rejected us because I have 2 children under 5 and because we both work
(even though I work from home). Apparently they will only accept people that have someone out of work. Which to me is nuts in some situations as they would let us have a dog if we were childless and unemployed but not with a family and in employment. I am going to be buying from a breeder as its the only way we will get a dog again.