# Rescue or Racket ?



## Bossroo (Mar 14, 2014)

On last night's evening  Ch. 2 TV news in Portland, Ore. the news reporter interviewed a lady that "rescued" 200 dogs from Southern Cal. and Mexico to adopt out locally. She obtains the dogs from shelters in S. Cal. at no cost to her.   She claimed that the trip takes 17 hours and that all of the dogs are caged in cary on cages with 1 to several dogs in each depending on the dog's size. She also claimed that the driver made frequent stops to feed, water, and walk the dogs. She also claims that all of the dogs are Vet. checked upon departure and at arrival in Portland. The Cal. and Ore. Agriculture  Department make no effort to inspect or regulate this " cargo".   Now . I drive from Fresno, Cal. to Portland, Ore. in 13+ hrs driving at an average of 70 mph. with 2 short stops for hamburgers and potty brake.  It takes at least 4 and more likely 6-7 hours to get from Southern Cal. to Fresno. Cal. .  Who is kidding who  with her claim ?   This lady said that the adoption fees that she gets range from $200 to $800 per dog depending on size and breed or mix.  So averageing the $200 and $800 = $ 500  . So 200 dogs x  $500 = $ 100,000 + /- for 4 weeks of her "work " with no cost of purchase and volunteer labor, and what little cost in feed and maybe some Vet. work. She does this frequently over a year's time frame. She makes NO guarantees as to the parentage , age, health, training or temperament of any dog that is " adopted " out.    Hmmmm!    Makes one wonder .....


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## BrownSheep (Mar 14, 2014)

Seriously......really.....$800 to "adopt".
I can MAYBE see $100, but anything beyond that seems less like a rescue and more like a business.


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## alsea1 (Mar 14, 2014)

This woman sounds like a crook


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## hilarie (Mar 14, 2014)

If it walks like bull****, talks like bull****, and smells like bull****, well, you fill in the blank.
You can adopt a lot of homeless, local dogs for $800.


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## purplequeenvt (Mar 14, 2014)

If I'm going to pay $800 for a dog, I'm going to pay that money to a reputable breeder and get a dog of known heritage and temperament. 

I am "pro" rescue, but I have a really hard time supporting most of the rescues around here. Most of them are bringing up dogs from the south and adopting them out for hundreds of dollars.


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## Southern by choice (Mar 14, 2014)

She is opportunistic.... I find people that would actually adopt these animals for ANY kind of money to be rather foolish. It is those that adopt with those conditions that perpetuate the insanity.


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## Bossroo (Mar 15, 2014)

Southern... you are spot on !  Adoption means that one does NOT exchange money for the animal. When these so called rescues charge an "adoption fee " they are actually SELLING these animals with not even an inkling of any return on quality of investment to the buyer.   I have owned about 16 dogs over the last 50 years, and I have never paid a red cent for any one of them.  All have been purebred dogs for protection, herding, or hunting.  One AKC Boxer female ( bred in the purple ) even produced 2 champions for us.  Now, why in the world would any one be so naive enough to pay anything for a mixed breed of dog when you don't have a clue as to it's genetic purpose , when even a purebred may or may not fulfill the desired outcome.?  These types of bleeding hearts aided by media advertising and reporting are doing a pretty good job of brainwashing the unsuspecting public !


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## AshleyFishy (Mar 15, 2014)

If it kept 200 from being euthanized does it really matter?


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## jodief100 (Mar 15, 2014)

I used to be on the BOD of a Greyhound Rescue group.  We charged an adoption fee and it do not come close to covering expenses.  The rest of the funds we obtained by fundraising our butts off.  

Transportation from the track and vet bills were the bulk of expenses.  Every dog we adopted came with a complete vet check, spay or neuter, teeth cleaning by a vet, shots, worming, first month of flea and heartworm control and any other know health issues that needed to be taken care of were.  The dogs are kept in foster care by volunteers and the organization pays for the feed during this time which average about 10 days.  It is not easy to do this and it is not cheep.  Legally, the adoption fee is a "donation".  We would, under certain circumstances waive the fee (older dogs, rehomes, person who volunteers for the organization) but usually we had concerns that if they can't afford or are unwilling to pay the adoption fee, are they going to take good care of the dog?

The group I volunteered for was  501(c)3.  That is a registered non-profit.  The books are open to anyone who requests them.  A good rescue has some guarantee of the health of the animal, has plans for that animal and contingency plans if the arranged home doesn't work out.  A good rescue knows the animal and it's temperament before placing it in a home.  Rescues have to charge something, dog food and gas aren't free.

That being said, what this woman is doing sounds like a racket.    If she is hauling 200 animals at a time, what does she do if they aren't adopted out immediately?  Where are they going?  what if they are sick or injured?


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## greybeard (Mar 16, 2014)

jodief100 said:


> I used to be on the BOD of a Greyhound Rescue group.  We charged an adoption fee and it do not come close to covering expenses.  The rest of the funds we obtained by fundraising our butts off.
> 
> Transportation from the track and vet bills were the bulk of expenses.  Every dog we adopted came with a complete vet check, spay or neuter, teeth cleaning by a vet, shots, worming, first month of flea and heartworm control and any other know health issues that needed to be taken care of were.  The dogs are kept in foster care by volunteers and the organization pays for the feed during this time which average about 10 days.  It is not easy to do this and it is not cheep.  Legally, the adoption fee is a "donation".  We would, under certain circumstances waive the fee (older dogs, rehomes, person who volunteers for the organization) but usually we had concerns that if they can't afford or are unwilling to pay the adoption fee, are they going to take good care of the dog?
> 
> ...


That's a good question. I suspect she doesn't much care.

You were right of course, to use the "..." quotation marks around the donation term. It's a not very subtle disguise for the description of a fee.
Brought back the memory from when I worked as a volunteer at a county (govt) animal shelter a decade or so ago. Some brilliant someone  decided it would be a great idea to institute a $90 "donation" fee to adopt out dogs and cats, ostensibly for the same purpose you described--to weed out those who might not be able to afford to properly care for the animals. We who worked there knew it for what it really was, as a revenue generator. It backfired.  Our euthanization to adoptions (ratio) went south almost immediately afterwards, so they dropped the mandatory "donation" down to $50. The ratio began to reverse itself a little but I well remember the teary eyes of kids who wanted a pet but the parents didn't have the $50 right then to pay the "donation", but it all ended when someone in the county filed suit over the "donation". I was a witness at the court hearing, and I remember the judge's words. "This, is no donation--donations mean they have a choice and it doesn't affect the outcome of the process. Call it a fee or call it a tax, but you cannot call it a donation." She went on to ask the supervisor how he would feel, if he took his pregnant wife to the ER or to the maternity ward and they said he would have to pay a "donation" before they would deliver the child. In the end, it was discovered the supervisor was pocketing the "donations" anyway, so he was fired and did 6 months in county jail.
I'm sure he viewed it as just a "donation" of his time tho. 

Money or wealth has never been any kind of viable indicator of how much love, care or attention anyone is willing and capable of giving anything--pets included. It's just a way to generate revenue under mostly false pretenses--It used to be known as keeping out the riff-raff.
I can understand having to pay the shelter for required inoculations, but a mandatory "donation"?
No.


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## Southern by choice (Mar 16, 2014)

greybeard said:


> Money or wealth has never been any kind of viable indicator of how much love, care or attention anyone is willing and capable of giving anything--pets included. It's just a way to generate revenue under mostly false pretenses--*It used to be known as keeping out the riff-raff.*



Yep


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## Bossroo (Mar 16, 2014)

In 2 days ago night's Ch 2 news ...  a family of husband , wife ( both unemployed ), 3 sons ( 16, 15, 15) and their 5 DOGS moved to Vancouver, Wa. and while they were at a motel, all of their belongings including all of their money ) were stolen.  All have been living in their car parked in a large parking lot  for the last 2 weeks.  Showed father and son begging for donations on the street corner.  How come NONE of the bleeding hearts have come forward to help their dogs  ( or rescue them ) much less these unfortunate people.


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## Bossroo (Mar 16, 2014)

If someone or a bleeding heart group rescues  ( no-one is forcing them to do so ) any animal, it should be on their OWN nickel.  To cut their expences , they should give them to someone that will love and care for them.   NOT charge any fee or "donation" shakedown. Why should anyone pay for the bleeding heart's rescueing needs other than themselves ? I have a ranch near town, and quite often people from town dump their dogs and cats that then come to our front door.  Every time this happens ( quit often especially in late summer ) I call the local rescue groups, and for years...  NOT A SINGLE TIME WILL THEY COME TO RESCUE THEM !  So I am stuck with feeding, caring, and Vet bills until someone answers my adds and fliers for a FREE  dog or cat.(dumped  cats are a nice  snack for coyotes).


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## Scooby308 (Mar 16, 2014)

12 years ago when my wife and I first got together, I went to the pound to look for us a family dog. They had a little female Rottie who no one could get in the cage with and was on death row. I walked in the cage at my own risk and knelt down. She didn't like it but didn't charge. So I kept getting closer til I could lay hands on her. She didn't like it, but didn't bite. So I payed the $25 fee and agreed to take here to my vet to be spayed and get her shots.

Judging by her size she couldn't be more than six months. After the adventure at the vet he guesstimated a year to 18 months. Whoever had her had beat and malnourished her.

It took two months of constant training (and we had young kids in the house) to get her to come to anyone other than me. She has turned into the best dog I have ever owned. She minds daddy always and does everything to please. If the wife and I or the kids (now the youngest 15) rough house. She will grab the offender by the wrist and pull them away because they are family. She will flat out attack a stranger only if they touch one of us.

Sosha is getting on in years and finally hit 60lbs. Still runs like a deer and plays with all dad's dogs just like she's a pup. She blew an ACL and they say she is too old for surgery but heathy enough if we want to try it but it means @6 months of crate confinement during rehab.

We are getting a Dobbie pup for her to train up this May. She has trained up my wife's pug (who thinks she's a Rottie).

Point being this lady is in it for the profit. And any dog can be saved if you are willing to work with them. Course I feel this way with most animals and kids.









ETA: Buck was a black lab Rottie cross I saved from the pound about 12 years before Sosha. He attacked everyone but let me put a collar and leash on and take him to the car. The vet said he was so malnourished he only gave him a 10% chance at living. I fed him rice and hamburger and had to keep him on a chain in the yard the first week. One day in the yard playing with him a guy pulled up in a truck and got out. Buck, nearly starved to death broke a small logging chain and put the guy back in his truck. He finally filled out to 90lbs and that's when we figured he was crossed with a Rottie. He was a beast and the best outside dog I ever owned. Nothing crossed the property line. But he never chased outside the line.


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## greybeard (Mar 16, 2014)

Bossroo said:


> If someone or a bleeding heart group rescues  ( no-one is forcing them to do so ) any animal, it should be on their OWN nickel.  To cut their expences , they should give them to someone that will love and care for them.   NOT charge any fee or "donation" shakedown. Why should anyone pay for the bleeding heart's rescueing needs other than themselves ? I have a ranch near town, and quite often people from town dump their dogs and cats that then come to our front door.  Every time this happens ( quit often especially in late summer ) I call the local rescue groups, and for years...  NOT A SINGLE TIME WILL THEY COME TO RESCUE THEM !  So I am stuck with feeding, caring, and Vet bills until someone answers my adds and fliers for a FREE  dog or cat.(dumped  cats are a nice  snack for coyotes).


Same here. People see my house way off the road, and drop them off at the front gate and speed away. Usually, hungry, sick, mangy AND PREGNANT. It doesn't take more than a couple hrs for them to sniff their way back to my house.

We clean 'em up, feed them and about every 3 months, take them down and sit in front of the feedstore or even walmart with a "free pet" sign till they are all with new 'owners'. I usually sweeten the deal by giving away 5lb of pet food with each one.
Can't save them all tho. Sometimes, they are just too far gone, and I'll have to put one down. I don't like it, but it's a fact of country life.


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