Why we are charging an Adoption Fee? Shouldn’t you give them away?

Rescue groups and individuals typically charge adoption fees of $200 to $1000 in order to help defray the cost of pull fees from shelters, out of state vetting, transport costs, medical bills in state, shots, food, kennels, supplies and medication.  In 2015, we spent over $100,000 in vet bills alone.  While we have willingly contributed our personal funds to helping our rescued dogs, if we do not receive at least some of the monetary expenditures back, then it will not be possible to assist the next pound puppy we encounter needing our help.

Our rescue is unique in that we take pregnant dogs or dogs who have recently delivered.  That means two things.  One we are taking care of the puppies for at least 8 weeks and the mother approximately three months.  That is much longer time period than your normal rescues who pull puppies and dogs and immediately put them up for adoption.  And secondly, we end up paying for several c-sectuib surgeries that can cost anywhere from $800 to over $3,000.  I can't count the times i've ended up at the emergency vets on a Saturday night at midnight with a dog who is unable to deliver naturally.

Sometimes there are pets that require extensive medical treatment before they are even available for adoption.  A puppy that comes down with Parvo Virus can require a 5-7 day hospital stay with constant care and IV fluids.  The cost for this can be anywhere from $800.00 to $1200.00. 

Some have said why don't you just have the puppy put down there are countless numbers of them out there?  The answer is simple, we are a rescue, we don't euthanize for space or because it is financially inconvenient to treat a pet.  If it was your puppy and you had held it in your arms for weeks before it got sick, would you be willing to make that decision?  The answer is probably not!  These pets are like our children, and we do everything that we can for them.   Some pets we make money on, some we lose money on.  Every dime that is made is put back into the Rescue to save other unfortunate pets that need us because they were abandoned by their families.

Our rescue lists the adoption fee of every puppy/dog on their individual page.  Our fees vary based from dog to dog and from puppy to puppy.  Our senior dogs, yes we get pregnant seniors, are ultimately given to their adopters free of charge, and if they want to make a donation, lovely.