[BaileyGates]

Originally Posted by Britster

I agree.
I've seen some Yorkies for adoption for ridiculous prices on petfinder.com.
EVERY shelter in my area has dogs available for adoption and they all under $350.

It is very easy to take care of shots, neutering/spaying, etc at a cheap price, especially if you are a shelter or rescue organization. The spay clinic where Jackson got neutered was $65 for dogs under 45 pounds and they give even bigger discounts to the rescues. The rabies vaccine was only $7 there.

I understand they need to make their money back and then a little bit more... but you should know getting into rescuing that you may very well LOSE money and you shouldn't be in it for the money, but for finding these animals homes.

It's not that people are not capable of paying $850-$1000 for a dog... but when you're RESCUING and adopting a dog, you shouldn't have to pay that much. You're getting a dog that you don't know it's history most of the time, could have a lot of behavioral issues, need a lot of house breaking and socialization, etc. Not all the time, but a lot of times rescue dogs are like that. I'm capable of buying a dog for $1500 but why do that if I can get a dog exactly the same and healthy for $400? Just because I don't want to pay that much for the dog itself does not mean that I can't afford to care for a dog and it's emergencies.

Now, I don't like when people ask for "free" or "cheap" dogs on Craigslist, etc, because then yes... if you can't afford that, then you probably can't afford a dog, and it could be being placed in a terrible home because the person just wanted a dog for free, etc. But with a rescue, they usually thoroughly look into the adoptive homes and make sure they are a right fit... so a cheap fee is acceptable.

Also, most rescues are 501(c)3 foundations, which means they are tax deductible, and can hold fundraisers, take donations, to make money for the animals.