I used to be on this site a lot, but I haven't been on much in the last year or so. Some of the old timers might remember me. So for those of you who don’t know me - I am on the board of an animal rescue organization in Buffalo, NY. We are very committed to working mostly with animals from our area, but occasionally we have foster space available and take animals from Ohio, which is only a few hours away.
We were contacted by a group in Ohio that was desperate to move out dogs that were slated to be euthanized. We had some foster space available and agreed to take in four dogs, three black lab mixes and one hound. We were told that the dogs would come up fully vetted and spayed. One of our members spent her own money to drive down to pick up the dogs. When she got there, she found very sweet and friendly dogs which we were happy to take in, but they were not spayed. Not only that, but the people who contacted us asked us to pay an extra $60 for boarding fees since we couldn’t get the dogs until Saturday when euthanasia day was Thursday.
Here is my frustration. The same shelter that asks us to pay a $30 pull fee for unspayed animals adopts the dogs out for $60 to whomever, but they are at least spayed and vaccinated. Plus, they are willing to keep the dogs for however long it takes for the new guardian to pick up without charging a boarding fee. We would be happy to pay the adoption fee for a dog that is already spayed. In New York, it costs us between $150 - $200 to spay/neuter a dog, even with our rescue discount. Taking a dog from Ohio that costs us $30 to pull and another $200 to get spayed and vaccinated does not make fiscal sense. I hate to put a dollar sign on saving dogs, but paying for dogs is not something we can afford to do. We are a mixed breed rescue and our adoption fees are only $150. We are very willing to help our Ohio neighbors, but we cannot afford to take in out of area dogs that cost us more than we recover.
We would be happy to take dogs from the Ohio region when we have room, but we cannot take dogs that cost us so much money that we cannot afford to help our own area dogs. I’m about ready to put a kabash on taking in out of state dogs, but I hate to do that since we do have foster space available occasionally that would help save the life of a dog.
I’m hoping that some of you Ohio folks can give me some insight on how I can make this an easier process. Unfortunately, I cannot take the pit mixes as we only have a handful of foster homes that will take them and I really need to keep those free for area dogs, but we can usually take the lab mixes and shepherd mixes that seem to be in abundance in your area as long as they are good with other dogs. I have to say that I get a little frustrated with groups that are always posting about dogs that are on the euthanasia list but aren’t willing to work to make sure the dogs are already vetted and spay/neutered. A dog that is already vetted would be easier to move to rescue.
Are there any groups in the area that are willing to work with us? We aren’t a shelter, so we don’t have vets on staff, so fully vetted dogs are really a necessity for us.
This post is more about venting than anything else, but feel free to contact me directly if you have any advice.
Clara
