I'm so sad. I don't get rescues!
 

I applied for a rescue puppy. She was a puppy mill rescue and she was so adorable. The emailed me this morning to tell me that I was approved and the adoption fee was $550. I understand that they put a lot of money into them on vet bills and things but there were no fees listed on the rescues site at all. I cannot afford $550 and now I'm in love with this adorable baby that I can't have. How can they do this to you. I understand but I don't.

I totally understand how surprising that can be. I frequently look at a rescue site and I am amazed when they ask 800 for a dog, or 1000.

I know how that is lots of money. Sometimes rescues have more medical issues down the road. As silly as this sounds, has this dog been to a vet and do you know what you may or may not be getting into.

Sorry for the shock. I understand!

Did you not know the adoption fee before putting in your application? Did you ask how much the fee would be before putting in your application?

As the other poster said,,, rescue dogs tend to have alot more costs involved with vets and since rescues use the adoption fee to take care of all the medical costs for the rescues I can see them charging more than usual for adoptions.

Is there definitely no way you can afford it? One thing to consider is that if you get a yorkie, you may have an emergency vet bill, + general vaccinations, dental cleanings, etc. I took Thor in the other day for an upset stomach and it cost almost $200.

I hope there is some way to get your baby!

I completely understand what you mean. I understand also the expense that rescue dogs accumulate with medical expenses. What I absolutely dont understand is when I see notices that they will be putting down a dog if someone doesnt adopt it in a day or two and the rescue fee is 500 and up. Why not go ahead and let someone adopt without that fee other than putting these poor little ones to sleep :(

Whoa, does that really happen? I am shocked to hear that. I would think that maybe the rescue is really a broker or a front for a mill if they use tactics like that. I thought part of being a rescue is that the dogs are held for as long as it takes to get them the right home.

Im so sorry this happened to you. Can you borrow the money from a family member? You sound like you would give this baby lots of love. It does cost to maintain this little ones but if you truly want one you can make it happen. Find a vet that will work with you and knows about Yorkies, not all vets do. Low cost shots daily maintanece like brushing teeth ,trimming nails and hair, cleaning ears will save on money. Good Luck to you hon, I think you will be a great mom.....Lissette

Hi
I adopted a puppy mill survivor about 3 weeks or so ago. I paid $400 fer her. They rescue gave me info behind it, apparently she had to buy her from the puppy mill (along with her sis, and a litter of pups). She pays the puppy mill for each dog she takes from them, granted it's less than they would make at auction but regardless there's a fee. Then my girl had to be spayed, have a dental, vaccinations, heartworm test. etc. etc. and apparently those costs combined make up her fee. She had another dog there that had over $1000 in vet bills but was charging only $400. She also had others that needed less work that she was charging less for. If you have questions for the rescue about their fees, they should be able to explain to you how they come to their fee. I know some rescues charge more for younger dogs and even price by breed (more for the more sought afters etc.). Most are non-profit organizations, so I don't believe there is malintent on their behalf.

Sorry you have been let down! I hope it all works out for you!

I know they have the vet bills, she is 5 months old and has been spayed, had all of her shots, they said she was rescued from a mill auction. I do understand the cost. I even offered to pay them part now and make payments but they just wouldn't have it. They said they were going to move on to the next approved application but I'm not so sure that they have all that many applications. I only put my application in last night, less than 24 hours ago, and got the email about 6 hours ago. They did call my vet to check on me but they didn't come to the house or anything. I know it's a lost cause but it is sad. I was so excited when I got the approval. Guess I'll have to save my money and buy one from a good reputable breeder instead.
There is no one I can borrow from, everyone I know is in the same boat I am. I used my income tax money to get Cookie. I have the money to take her to the vet and things like that but to come up with that much money at one time is just impossible for me right now. My vet is really good with working with me on costs if something comes up. Last year when my mom's 15 year old dog got very sick with multiple different things and stopped eatting, couldn't stand anymore, and was getting aggressive on her good days we ended up having her put to sleep. They allowed her to write a check and they held it for up to a month. We have been going there for over 20 years as a family with all of our pets. Thier fees are rather low compared to what I have seen around too.

I paid $450 each to have my puppies neutered and to have all of their shots. That didn't include what I paid for the puppies themselves, so $550 doesn't seem unreasonable to me for a 5 month old puppy that has already been spayed and had all of her shots. If you were to purchase a puppy from a breeder and have that work done you would pay more than double that amount. I understand they are an expensive investment. I do wish you good luck in your search for a puppy.

Hmmmmmmm. Are you sure this is a reputable rescue? Unfortunately, a lot of millers / puppy brokers pretend to be rescues. Some YT members have been fooled, only to discover the truth later. It is very hard for people to realize that they gave money to a mill, rather than getting a real rescue.

There are some red flags here:

- While it is not unheard of, it is controversial to "rescue" dogs from auctions.

- I am surprised that you were approved so fast. Have you even spoken to them on the phone? Most rescues have long waiting lists, especially for a young female yorkie, and usually a rescue will put you through the wringer to make sure you're a good fit.

- They seem to be pressuring you to make a fast decision. This is often a sales tactic.

Can you give the name of the rescue? Maybe we can check it out for you.

:thumbup: on this post. Some dogs cost them a lot and they can only ask a small amount because of the health and age of that dog. So the young dogs they ask a lot for so it covers the cost of the sick dogs.

And after you get a rescue the cost could go even higher, Ivy had to get her teeth done and after 10 teeth that had to come out I left $500.00 poorer. That was just 1 visit to the vets. :eek:

Funny I was thinking the same thing about a front for a mill or something. Seems like everyone pushes to rescue making you think it's the better and cheaper way to go but if your paying the same price or higher I don't see how it's different then buying a healthy dog from a reputable breeder. Plus you may end up with huge vet bills on top of the rescue fee. I don't know I'm probably missing some facts or info here. I have always thought it was good to rescue but I've never paid over 50 dollars for a rescue dog.

I have to agree, I paid almost 1000.00 for my dog I picked her up and had 5 days to have her looked over at the vet that appointment was 150.00 there were no shots included, then 2 weeks after back for shots and it was another 190.00 , so I guess in the long run that is pretty cheap for a puppy, my spay will be an additional 500.00 next month :eek::eek:. If you go to some of the rescue sites , they will give an guesstimate of how much the pups/dogs medical expenses are going to be or were, and wow , sometimes they are way more then the adoption fee....thats just the medical expense never mind the money the foster moms have to spend of food, toys etc... Good luck I hope you get your puppy ;)

My friend have a small rescue local and I know the prices involve in cares for individual dog . Some little ones arrive needing very much vet cares etc etc .
My friend is 1000 % passionate of animal and will do everything to give a better life to them .

I am very sorry you didn't had the chance to adopt the little one .

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.