[GeoGeo]

I have had many people make comments about the high fees that rescues charge. That they can just go to the pound and get a dog really cheap or get a free dog from an ad in the newspaper. I just wanted to comment on the reason that rescues charge those fees.

When you get a dog from a rescue (Florida Dachshund Rescue for example), the dog has been to the vet. The fee is to help with the cost of getting the dog up-to-date on their shots, for dental cleaning, extractions if needed, for surgical procedures, for treatment of skin issues, for heartworm treatment, for any medical issue that the dog might have.

When you get a dog from the pound or an ad in the paper, the dog more than likely will not have been to the veterinary so you don't know their health. You will have to pay around the same amount or more to take that new dog to the vet.

I can speak from experience. I took in a little dog that was used for breeding by the previous owner. The dog had never been on heartworm preventative and the only shot it got was the state required rabies shot. So I had to take the dog to the vet myself for a check-up, shots, dental cleaning, neuturing. Let me tell you that I paid more for that "free" dog than if I had adopted through the rescue. My saying is "A free dog ain't free." I have the vet bills to prove it.

So for anyone who doesn't like the fees that rescues charge, please consider what those fees are for. It is not so the rescue can get rich. The fees usually do not even fully cover the vet bills. So please consider a rescue animal.