I was thinking the same thing myself. I alway's thought that a rescue checks out people and it takes a while to actually be approved. My friend was put through the ringer with a bunch of questions and even had a home visit before she gotaproved for her rescue.

I was going to get a 6 month old rescue till I found out I couldn't get her the 788 miles one way home. They wanted $400.00 for her, I was sad about it but something in the family came up and I couldn't fit the road trip in anymore.

let me tell you something that I thought was the craziest thing and made me a little upset. When I started breeding I started with Goldens and Labs and breed them for 4 year & then got my 1st yorkie and maltese. I fell in love with this two girls that over the next year I desided to start getting out of breeding the Goldens and Lab and start with the maltese and yorkies. I post an ad online about the Labs and Goldens they are 6 years old and up on all shots, has always been on wormed and heartwormed med. So no medical problems at all. Was going to place them in pet homes with no papers for $25.00. I had a rescue group call and email me many times saying they could help me find them homes. They was so petty and they had people all the time looking for grown dogs like Goldens and labs that is good with kids. And my dogs loves kids. They said they would pay me the $25 fee. I went to their web site and they was going to make money off my dogs. They was going to Charge people $250 for a fee and that was not even to spay them. So they was going to come pick them up have have a adopion drive the next weekend and make $225 off of each dog. I told them no way, I wanted to know where they go and thought I could find them familys myself. I feel they say they get these dogs out of puppy mills but don't think they all come for puppy mills. I'm not a puppy mill, but on their web site they was downing all breeders, good, bad and the ugly. No breeders was good to them. But they was so nice to me on the phone, because they could make money off me. More likly they would have went back give some sad story about them being from a puppy mill and be lieing the hole time just to sell the dog. And that is what it is selling a dog when it is done like that.

I agree, that does seem a bit much. The rescue I visit and volunteer a lot is only $150 fee for dogs and $65 for cats. If you buy two, they give you a better deal too. That seems very reasonable and fair to me considering they come to you neutered, updated shots, etc. $550 seems a bit ridiculous.

$550 sounds pretty reasonable for a puppy! I think a breeder would probably cost you close to twice as much. Even though this is a rescue she's still pretty young and chances are she is in good health and is possibly mentally distraught. It would be nice if they could "give" dogs away but then how would they make money to help these dogs. If they are putting notices up like " if you don't adopt in two days this dog is put to sleep " I would be worried myself. That doesn't sound like a "rescue" to me. Our humane society is 215$ per dog and I think a little bit more for a puppy.


I've seen rescues go for that much around here.

I did some detective work after we got our rescue Yorkie. I managed to find out what her breeding name was, the name of the breeder she came from etc. Then I was able to find out the vet that breeder used, and from them I found her health record. While the vet says this breeder is one of the more reputable breeders around, the rescue still had to get the dog some shots, spayed and her teeth cleaned as well as the basic health exam. So I know they invested money in her as well as feeding and housing her till we adopted her. Having worked in a vets office I know that these proceedures are not cheap, so I thought the adoption fee we paid was fair for a 4 year old.

The name of the rescue is Safe Haven Rescue in New Middletown, OH. I have talked to someone on the phone but only after I left a message and they called me back.

When I searched them through Petfinder.com they came up. When I opened the site it had the adoption form to be filled out by the intrested party. It lists itself as a non-profit donation based rescue that takes animals in from different places for different reasons. They must be registered as they have it noted on their site that they take tax deductable donations under the 501-3c or whatever it was I already forgot. LOL
I just know the local rescue here uses the same tax form for donations.

I looked this up as well, and found a myspace page MySpace.com - Safe Haven Rescue - 43 - Female - NEW MIDDLETOWN, Ohio - www.myspace.com/adoptdontshop12 I looked at a lot of their adoptable dogs and was shocked none of them had fees listed? I don't think that makes them not legitimate as everything seems to be in order, just thought it was peculiar.

I know, that is why it broke my heart so badly. There are no fees listed anywhere. They didn't even give me a fee until after they approved me. I'm not saying they are not legitimate I'm just saying they should change they way they do things. They are not being up front.

This is what I was thinking too!

I am so new at this but I know when I have clicked on links that say this dog has 2 days to live it asks for rehoming fees a lot of the time of 500 and up and I am thinking to myself what if noone has the money they are going to put this baby down. It is so sad in my opinion when there are people like the OP who would take it in a heart beat:(

You shouldn't go to a rescue to get a "good deal", though usually the dogs are cheaper. You should go to a rescue to get a dog that has already been abandoned once and needs a good home.

A rescue can justify high prices if they take in older dogs, possibly older puppy mill breeders, that need massive emotional and physical rehabilitation. They may average the costs out to younger dogs with fewer problems. The shelter I work at has reasonable fees, set by the age of the dog, but they are also pretty careful about picking dogs that aren't likely to need a ton of work before they can be made eligible for adoption.

That being said, you have to research the rescue just like you would a breeder. Some rescues are really fronts, as we've discussed. Perhaps more sadly, some rescues simply lose their way, and turn into mill brokers after a while. Personally, I would not work with a rescue that regularly buys at auctions. This puts money in the hands of puppy mills. Yes, it is often less than the mill would make on a full-price dog, but that's like saying that if you buy a dog that's been marked down in a pet store, you've "rescued" it. I believe it perverts the entire idea of rescue.

I'm going to check out Save Haven, but seriously, I would consider not working with them if they were willing to give you a puppy without even talking to you on the phone. I know you have your heart set on this girl, but it must be based on a picture, not a meeting, right? I think maybe there's another yorkie out there for you.

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I am 99.9% sure that this is simply a ruse by a broker disguising itself as a rescue. NO good rescue puts any of its healthy animals down. That's the whole point of a rescue, to take these animals and care for them until they find their forever homes.

I agree with most everything you have said here. I don't believe that a rescue should buy at an auction. I know several that go to the auctions and bid and bid several hundreds of dollars on dogs who they then have to place with ridiculously high prices. The rescue I worked with to get CoCo, has a 'relationship' or moreso an agreement with the Amish mills near her. She hates them but knows that something has to be done to get these dogs out. She goes and frequently visits the dogs and knows their stories. CoCo and her sister were too small to deliver. So when they were pregnant with the second pups and she knew the Mill was going to have to C-section them, she said she would take them. She was forced to pay a marginal fee for the 2 dogs and the litters. But got them c-sectioned/spayed etc. and took 7-8 Yorkies out of the Mill as a result. If people would stop bringing little Johnny to the pet store and bringing home a 'cute little puppy' on a whim then the Mills would not even be in existence.