Rehoming vs Rescue

[Aqua-Net]

I have another question to bring up on here. Rescue or rehome, do you think it is right to charge for them? I understand putting a price on any animal to prevent it from falling into the hands on a hoarder or even someone that just couldn't provide for it, but some of it is ridiculous. I saw someone on petfinder.com (in the classifieds so it wasn't a hedgehog rescue) trying to charge $100 because they had apparently paid $250 for the hedgehog (they don't mention anything about supplies). And then they go on to say that if someone doesn't adopt this animal soon from them, it will have to go to the shelter. This seems to me to be a blatent attempt to make money off the poor creature that apparently "takes up too much room" rather than focus on finding a good forever home.

[Nancy]

I have another question to bring up on here. Rescue or rehome, do you think it is right to charge for them? I understand putting a price on any animal to prevent it from falling into the hands on a hoarder or even someone that just couldn't provide for it, but some of it is ridiculous. I saw someone on petfinder.com (in the classifieds so it wasn't a hedgehog rescue) trying to charge $100 because they had apparently paid $250 for the hedgehog (they don't mention anything about supplies). And then they go on to say that if someone doesn't adopt this animal soon from them, it will have to go to the shelter. This seems to me to be a blatent attempt to make money off the poor creature that apparently "takes up too much room" rather than focus on finding a good forever home.

I saw that post too and thought it rather ridiculous that they won't sell for anything less than $100. yet if they don't sell her she'll endup at a rescue where they will get NOTHING.

I do agree though that all animals whether they are rehomes, or rescues should be charged for simply so someone looking for a free animal doesn't end up with them. :)

[Kalandra]

The problem with trying to define what is a rehome or a rescue, in my opinion, is when you are dealing with people who are giving up their hedgehogs. Some of these could be considered rescues instead of rehomes when the person you are dealing with is going to dispose of the hedgehog if you don't take it. And by dispose of I do not mean it in the Mary Poppins type of way, but rather an Al Pacino way. I know of a few that have been 'rescued' with such conditions were stated.

[KatesCritters]

I run a small animal rescue. I consider anything a rescue if it has been surrendered to me, or if it was caught running loose outside. Even if a former breeder surrenders all their breeding stock to me, I still call them rescued animals because they were surrendered to the rescue.

Animals purchased from petstores or breeders are NOT rescues, unless the petstore was burning down and you ran in to save animals :P. I don't call animals rescues even if the petstore was a filthy disaster. The point of rescuing an animal is to get the animal out of a bad situation. When you pruchase a sick animal from a petstore, you just create room for the next animal. That's not rescuing, that's creating a market.

[ejw829]

Putting a price tag on an animal is weird enough when it is being sold as a pet (when you think about it) but when you do the same for an animal you can no longer care for? I just don't get it.

If a proper home can be found, be thankful and leave it at that. An adoption fee isn't unreasonable, however, especially of the animal is up for adoption at a rescue/shelter. What upsets me is the "I need a new home for Sparky... he cost $200.00 and his supplies were another $200.00 so you can buy him for $300.00." It's just not right.

In the case of my 2 hedgies that came from rescue I was asked to make a donation for one but not the other. I still gave money to the rescue not requesting a donation b/c I would have felt badly if I didn't.