Why aren't rescue dogs free?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah the high fee stopped us from adopting one

Mission accomplished. If that small token amount prevented you from following through, it served its screening purpose perfectly.

You realize many of the folks who are not ok with the big fee just go to breeders.

They don’t want to pay $250 to a rescue so they pay $2500 to a breeder? Some real logic there.

The rescues I looked at were $800+. Breeder was $1800 and at least I knew what I was getting. Not worth saving the money.

Name the rescue. I’ve worked with several and not seen a fee that high!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Charging a fee may prevent acquisition of animals for abuse.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When you dig into it, rescues are a completely illogical system that is driven more by the emotional needs of the operators than rational animal control practice.

They'll spend a fortune to transport dogs across the country and treat diseases, while leaving far more to die due to budget and capacity constraints.

So if you can’t save all, save none?
Your post doesn’t make much sense.
It would be lovely if people would adopt all the pit mixes left in the shelters here and not need to transport them in, but that’s not reality.

We could solve the pit problem by swapping dogs with these shelters down south that have all the desirable breeds. Let’s send our pits down there to be euthanized and bring the desirable dogs here.

Why would you ship a dog in order to euthanize it???

We shouldn't. They should be put down on the spot. I've worked in animal shelters before and what we are doing to these unadoptable dogs is criminal; I firmly believe it is more abusive to keep an animal in a small cell for 2, 4, 6, or recent videos showing 10 year residents in a shelter environment than a simple euthanasia. I do not blame the dogs, but we have gone way too far with the "No-Kill" movement. We're not killing someone's Golden who went missing for 10 hours willy nilly. The shelters are packed with anti-social unadoptable dogs and we HAVE to deal with that population. At the source primarily but also by ot continuing the cycle of rescuing the South from their issues or normalizing/borderline shaming people who won't bring a problematic dog into their home. It's really sick.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah the high fee stopped us from adopting one

Mission accomplished. If that small token amount prevented you from following through, it served its screening purpose perfectly.

You realize many of the folks who are not ok with the big fee just go to breeders.

They don’t want to pay $250 to a rescue so they pay $2500 to a breeder? Some real logic there.

The rescues I looked at were $800+. Breeder was $1800 and at least I knew what I was getting. Not worth saving the money.

I’m calling BS on you. Name the rescue and post a link.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is a lot of money in animal rescue. You can look up the financial records of a lot of non-profits that are in the NOVA area and see how much money....

It is a business don't forget.

Are you saying the people who run rescues are making a nice living from it? (I just need to know how divorced from reality you are)

Just gonna leave this right here: https://www.lostdogrescue.org/about/finance/

This shows that the amount they "made" on adoptions was about the same as the amount they spent on direct animal care (a little more in '22, less in '21) not counting other expenses like insurance.

That is, they did not make a profit on adoption fees.

Is there something in the financial statement that you find objectionable? Just the fact they have assets (from donations) they are not using to make dogs free to adopt?

They pay their head $88K. I run a non-profit and don't get paid.

You have a wealthy spouse and a hobby job.

I don't consider it a job and we are comfortable, far from wealthy.

It’s your choice. Others are not obligated to
give their time for free just because you don’t value yours.

Then, these aren't rescues and shouldn't have non-profit status. They should be considered businesses and reselling dogs.

You have created your own definition of non profit that no one else uses. Non profit does not mean solely volunteer labor.

Having paid leadership is in the best interest of most organizations because it promotes accountability and makes it easier to fire somebody who isn't doing a good job. I'm sure you've encountered situations where the long-time volunteer does the job in an odd or even harmful way but there's no one willing to take it over so that nonsense continues. Having key positions paid usually prevents that. Paying also makes it possible to attract trained experts who can't afford to work for free.

[Anonymous]

Money would be best spent sending high school and college students on service trips around the south, going door to door collecting animals to spay/neuter and return, or in a mobile vet van.

Better than a billionaire heiress flying dogs around the country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When you dig into it, rescues are a completely illogical system that is driven more by the emotional needs of the operators than rational animal control practice.

They'll spend a fortune to transport dogs across the country and treat diseases, while leaving far more to die due to budget and capacity constraints.

So if you can’t save all, save none?
Your post doesn’t make much sense.
It would be lovely if people would adopt all the pit mixes left in the shelters here and not need to transport them in, but that’s not reality.

We could solve the pit problem by swapping dogs with these shelters down south that have all the desirable breeds. Let’s send our pits down there to be euthanized and bring the desirable dogs here.

Idk why so many people in this thread are repeating this nonsense about there being a bunch of desirable dogs in shelters down south. Where do you think all the pits at rescues here come from?? Sure, sometimes you can find a desirable purebred in a shelter but it’s not the norm and they got adopted in a day or less.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah the high fee stopped us from adopting one

Mission accomplished. If that small token amount prevented you from following through, it served its screening purpose perfectly.

You realize many of the folks who are not ok with the big fee just go to breeders.

They don’t want to pay $250 to a rescue so they pay $2500 to a breeder? Some real logic there.

The rescues I looked at were $800+. Breeder was $1800 and at least I knew what I was getting. Not worth saving the money.

I’m calling BS on you. Name the rescue and post a link.

Some of the purebred dogs are that much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Money would be best spent sending high school and college students on service trips around the south, going door to door collecting animals to spay/neuter and return, or in a mobile vet van.

Better than a billionaire heiress flying dogs around the country.

Service trips make no sense. Those places need money and that money would be better spent to the actual thing needed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Money would be best spent sending high school and college students on service trips around the south, going door to door collecting animals to spay/neuter and return, or in a mobile vet van.

Better than a billionaire heiress flying dogs around the country.

You have no clue at all about how any of this works in the real world yet here you are acting like a know it all. SMH

Do you have any idea what a “mobile vet van” that can perform surgery actually costs? Hundreds of thousands. Sending a bunch of northerners on trips to the rural south where you would need to pay for food and board? Just think about the safety of that situation. Then not even rescuing any actual animals in need? If you are so clueless why would you even be arguing about this topic?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rescues are a total scam. A bunch of bored people who want you to fund their hobby of fostering dogs.

I went to the south, walked into a shelter, paid a $50 fee, walked out with a dog — the fee covered the neuter too.

In DC, they wanted me to pay $500 for the privilege of an unannounced home visit and someone to judge my lifestyle and tell me my house isn’t good enough for a rescue dog. Then they didn’t even have as many dogs as cute as the pup I got from the shelter.

Do a road trip down south.

And I can buy a lot of things, like a house, cheaper in the south. So what? Absolutely do a road trip to save a $400-500 fee for transport if that works in your schedule. For most people, the road trip will cost more than that.

It’s not just saving $500. Rescues in DC only have less desirable breeds like pit bulls or chihuahuas and will guilt you if you say you have other preferences. Southern pounds have everything.

To you, not everyone is biased against these dogs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Money would be best spent sending high school and college students on service trips around the south, going door to door collecting animals to spay/neuter and return, or in a mobile vet van.

Better than a billionaire heiress flying dogs around the country.

You have no clue at all about how any of this works in the real world yet here you are acting like a know it all. SMH

Do you have any idea what a “mobile vet van” that can perform surgery actually costs? Hundreds of thousands. Sending a bunch of northerners on trips to the rural south where you would need to pay for food and board? Just think about the safety of that situation. Then not even rescuing any actual animals in need? If you are so clueless why would you even be arguing about this topic?

All of this, plus money is not necessarily the problem. Lots of people don't want to neuter their pet dogs, particularly if a northern do-gooder is telling them to do so. Other people think it would be fun or profitable to have some litters. And some only barely want / can afford their dogs so they may not want you to return it after surgery.

I don't know what the reference to the heiress is about: most southern dogs move north via a chain of volunteers with vans, or sometimes hobby pilots who donate their time in a small plane. The greyhound racing industry is mostly gone now but it used to be really common to move adoptable greyhounds from Florida up the coast via volunteer drivers who each handled a segment of the trip.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Money would be best spent sending high school and college students on service trips around the south, going door to door collecting animals to spay/neuter and return, or in a mobile vet van.

Better than a billionaire heiress flying dogs around the country.

You have no clue at all about how any of this works in the real world yet here you are acting like a know it all. SMH

Do you have any idea what a “mobile vet van” that can perform surgery actually costs? Hundreds of thousands. Sending a bunch of northerners on trips to the rural south where you would need to pay for food and board? Just think about the safety of that situation. Then not even rescuing any actual animals in need? If you are so clueless why would you even be arguing about this topic?

All of this, plus money is not necessarily the problem. Lots of people don't want to neuter their pet dogs, particularly if a northern do-gooder is telling them to do so. Other people think it would be fun or profitable to have some litters. And some only barely want / can afford their dogs so they may not want you to return it after surgery.

I don't know what the reference to the heiress is about: most southern dogs move north via a chain of volunteers with vans, or sometimes hobby pilots who donate their time in a small plane. The greyhound racing industry is mostly gone now but it used to be really common to move adoptable greyhounds from Florida up the coast via volunteer drivers who each handled a segment of the trip.

It’s a barbaric process. I did not fully understand what it was when we did it. They need a less invasive procedure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Money would be best spent sending high school and college students on service trips around the south, going door to door collecting animals to spay/neuter and return, or in a mobile vet van.

Better than a billionaire heiress flying dogs around the country.

You have no clue at all about how any of this works in the real world yet here you are acting like a know it all. SMH

Do you have any idea what a “mobile vet van” that can perform surgery actually costs? Hundreds of thousands. Sending a bunch of northerners on trips to the rural south where you would need to pay for food and board? Just think about the safety of that situation. Then not even rescuing any actual animals in need? If you are so clueless why would you even be arguing about this topic?

All of this, plus money is not necessarily the problem. Lots of people don't want to neuter their pet dogs, particularly if a northern do-gooder is telling them to do so. Other people think it would be fun or profitable to have some litters. And some only barely want / can afford their dogs so they may not want you to return it after surgery.
Free surgery won't change that mindste
I don't know what the reference to the heiress is about: most southern dogs move north via a chain of volunteers with vans, or sometimes hobby pilots who donate their time in a small plane. The greyhound racing industry is mostly gone now but it used to be really common to move adoptable greyhounds from Florida up the coast via volunteer drivers who each handled a segment of the trip.

Yes, and this tracks with the types of dogs we see in shelters. 80 percent of American dogs are neutered or spayed. That's pretty good! Pits and other bullies are neutered or spayed at sub 20% rates. That's a huge issue in terms of what kind of dogs make it into shelters and rescues. The Labs and Golden aren't running free throwing off 12+ puppy litters left and right. And yeah, a lot of these people who wont de-sex their dogs get a kick out of it. They want the biggest, angriest, bully they can make with the biggest balls a swinging. Free surgery won't change that mindset.

Let me finish by saying that people with these dogs generally treat them like shit. I don't know how to fix this problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Money would be best spent sending high school and college students on service trips around the south, going door to door collecting animals to spay/neuter and return, or in a mobile vet van.

Better than a billionaire heiress flying dogs around the country.

You have no clue at all about how any of this works in the real world yet here you are acting like a know it all. SMH

Do you have any idea what a “mobile vet van” that can perform surgery actually costs? Hundreds of thousands. Sending a bunch of northerners on trips to the rural south where you would need to pay for food and board? Just think about the safety of that situation. Then not even rescuing any actual animals in need? If you are so clueless why would you even be arguing about this topic?

All of this, plus money is not necessarily the problem. Lots of people don't want to neuter their pet dogs, particularly if a northern do-gooder is telling them to do so. Other people think it would be fun or profitable to have some litters. And some only barely want / can afford their dogs so they may not want you to return it after surgery.
Free surgery won't change that mindste
I don't know what the reference to the heiress is about: most southern dogs move north via a chain of volunteers with vans, or sometimes hobby pilots who donate their time in a small plane. The greyhound racing industry is mostly gone now but it used to be really common to move adoptable greyhounds from Florida up the coast via volunteer drivers who each handled a segment of the trip.

Yes, and this tracks with the types of dogs we see in shelters. 80 percent of American dogs are neutered or spayed. That's pretty good! Pits and other bullies are neutered or spayed at sub 20% rates. That's a huge issue in terms of what kind of dogs make it into shelters and rescues. The Labs and Golden aren't running free throwing off 12+ puppy litters left and right. And yeah, a lot of these people who wont de-sex their dogs get a kick out of it. They want the biggest, angriest, bully they can make with the biggest balls a swinging. Free surgery won't change that mindset.

Let me finish by saying that people with these dogs generally treat them like shit. I don't know how to fix this problem.

In some ways, the success of neuter/spay campaigns is actually removing good family mutts from the gene pool and leaving the worst dogs to reproduce. I don’t know the answer either.