Why aren't rescue dogs free?

[Anonymous]

The vet industry is out of control??? That is nuts. Vets have a lot of college debt and don’t make anywhere close to doctor money. Most of them do work for shelter, rescue groups, or strays brought in by random people for free or very low cost.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The vet industry is out of control??? That is nuts. Vets have a lot of college debt and don’t make anywhere close to doctor money. Most of them do work for shelter, rescue groups, or strays brought in by random people for free or very low cost.

Most? Lol yeah sure.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:because they have figured out how to make it a money making business.

let's get dogs and have people feel that they are doing something good, they will throw all sorts of money at us and we can make some good money.

Doesn’t this describe breeders and puppy mills?

[Anonymous]

Because abusers would take free dogs and abuse them. A fee is a gatekeeper.

[Anonymous]

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.

If you go back a few years, their head didn't get paid, either. But not all nonprofits are the same, and not every head deserves to be paid the same.

Should every high school kid who founds a nonprofit as resume-padding get paid? Should the head of Planned parenthood.

I think it's great that you're running a nonprofit. If it were big and successful, I think you should get paid.

[Anonymous]

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.

You got a neutered dog for $50, but don’t kid yourself, the $50 fee did not “cover” the cost of neutering unless you’re talking about a dog you adopted many, many years ago. Someone subsidized your dog’s care so that you could adopt him for a modest donation, and it may not have even been strictly locals from that area.

[Anonymous]

The fee pre-paid the spay/neuter. Plus, these are charities that depend on donations or adoption fees to be able to feed, house, and provide vet care to the animals. If you can't afford the fee, you probably shouldn't get a pet. They are expensive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They are reselling the dogs.

X10000

It’s no longer pet stores, it’s rescues that are selling dogs. These are reselling. It’s just another way to buy a dog.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are reselling the dogs.

X10000

It’s no longer pet stores, it’s rescues that are selling dogs. These are reselling. It’s just another way to buy a dog.

+1 some people make it sound like they are doing god’s work. They just want $!!

[Anonymous]

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.

Imagine a guy walked into that shelter an hour before you did and paid $50 for your cute pup and then used it as a bait dog.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Totally agree about the need for a rescue fee, but some have gotten pretty outrageous. I paid more than $400 to Lucky Dog, which according to their 990 (https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/or...212659349300106/full) has $6.6 million carryover in the bank. That includes $400k that they added last year, when they took in $2.4 million and spent $2.0 million. They don't need a $6 million+ cushion. Time to reduce fees and spend down to a more reasonable $2 million carryover.

Oops, mistated the numbers but the point stands.

Last year in the 990, Lucky Dog raised $3.9 million. Spent $1.9 million. Added $2 million to the bank where they have $6.7 million total in assets.

That's big business!!! Lot's of money in rescues. Most only have a few employees and tons of volunteers. It's mostly all profit.

So even though the IRS, which looks at organizations' financials, deems an organization a nonprofit, you know better?

I do, since I volunteered at a local rescue here for a year!

[Anonymous]

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.

I assume that's the person's full time job, and $88k is not a high salary in this area. Being a non profit means you aren't making profit driven decisions: it doesn't mean you don't pay your staff.

This is an organization with real estate (kennels), vehicles, volunteers who need to be screened, and live animals that require care indefinitely and could bite. You expect someone to run all that for free on their evenings? Imagine the outcry if a person or animal was hurt from lack of oversight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Totally agree about the need for a rescue fee, but some have gotten pretty outrageous. I paid more than $400 to Lucky Dog, which according to their 990 (https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/or...212659349300106/full) has $6.6 million carryover in the bank. That includes $400k that they added last year, when they took in $2.4 million and spent $2.0 million. They don't need a $6 million+ cushion. Time to reduce fees and spend down to a more reasonable $2 million carryover.

Oops, mistated the numbers but the point stands.

Last year in the 990, Lucky Dog raised $3.9 million. Spent $1.9 million. Added $2 million to the bank where they have $6.7 million total in assets.

That's big business!!! Lot's of money in rescues. Most only have a few employees and tons of volunteers. It's mostly all profit.

So even though the IRS, which looks at organizations' financials, deems an organization a nonprofit, you know better?

I do, since I volunteered at a local rescue here for a year!

Oh, sorry, you're definitely an expert, then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So many people complain that there are too many dogs in shelters and people shouldn't buy purebreds when there are perfectly good dogs who may be euthanized.

But then it costs $400 and a home visit to make sure you have a fence to be allowed to adopt.

Wouldn't those shelters be less filled if it's actually easier to adopt?

I don't get it.

Because many rescue groups are getting their dogs from puppy mills.

There used to be pet stores that sold puppies. Those were forced out of business, but puppy mills still remain. Where are the puppies going and why do rescue groups charge what pet stores used to charge?