Anonymous wrote:I’ve seen this messaging often enough that I have a hard time believing it, but I want to check myself.
Sometimes when people in my suburban community want to rehome their dogs, they’ll post on a community forum. There’s always at least one person who says ‘don’t give this dog away because many people will use them for dog fights and street fighting! Instead go through this rescue.’
So my questions : are there really that many underground dog fighting rings in the suburbs rehoming a dog within a community is risky? Or is it an urban legend that just won’t die.
Is there a financial incentive for rescues to want to handle the rehoming themselves? (I can’t imagine there is.)
dog fights/street fighting are less common than this comment would have you believe, but they do exist. But as a pp said upthread, the real concern is that a person who can't afford an adoption fee probably can't afford proper vet care, supplies, food, training, etc. for the dog.
re: the last question, no. There's no financial incentive for rescues to want to handle the rehoming. Shelters operate at a loss, and most rescues are volunteer-run and rely on foster homes to care for their adoptable animals. The vet bills, medical supplies, transport costs, website maintenance, etc. are all barely/rarely offset by the adoption fees.
Pets as a commodity are rarely a profitable item. It's hard to take good care of a living creature of any value without exceeding that value in expenses.