People often wonder why we must ask for an adoption donation to be made if you wish to home one of our animals. If we want to see an animalin a home surely we would let them be adopted with no cost to the adopter?
The reality is that rescuing, rehabilitating and rehoming your dog or cat is a costly affair, and as we are entirely dependent on donations, we have to ensure all of these costs are covered in order that we can continue our work.
Adopting a dog from our Shelter in Romania – £525
For our dogs coming from Romania these costs are quite extensive and are necessary in order that we fulfil our responsibilities as a responsible rescue.
The costs that must be covered are –
- CPV (Parvovious) test
- CDV (Distemper) test
- Core vaccines (x2 courses for adults, x3 courses for puppies)
- Kennel Cough Vaccine
- Microchip and Passport
- Wormimg
- Flea Treatment
- CaniV-4 Test for Dirofilaria Immitis (Heartworm), Anaplasma, Leishmania, Ehrilchia Canis
- ELISA and SAT tests for Brucella Canis
- PCR Babesiosis test
- Giardia test
- Transport costs
- Import/Export certification
The total cost of the above results in a cost to us of £555 from which we deduct a dog’s initial sponsorship donation of £30 requiring us ro ask for an adoption donation of £525
In addition we can offer a blood chemistry screen and a full blood count at £43 if an adopter wishes. This may have been carried out anyway on older dogs, or if dogs have undergone veterinary procedures, so this will be discussed with adopters.
Of course there are dozens of other additional costs for each dog which we cover from our general fundraising, so in the rare event any part of your donation exceeds that which is required (eg because of exchange rates or inclusion in other veterinary procedures), we will add this our funds allocated to future essential projects and welfare of our animals.
Adopting a dog in foster or kennels in the UK
Calculating the costs needed to be covered for a dog already in the UK is more complex. Quite often some costs will already be covered – eg an adoption fee may have already been paid or transport costs may have been covered by supporters. Sometimes additional costs maybe involved in transporting to your home. Given the number of variables a donation for homing a UK based dog will be agreed with the rehoming team but in all cases would never exceed the £525 we ask for a Romanian based dog.
Adopting a cat from our Romanian fosterers
The costs for prepping a cat for travel are similar to those for a dog. All our cats are routinely tested for FPV and FIV/FELV. However given the relatively low price that kittens are available in the UK we need to subsidise the adoption fee for cats via other sources and ask adopters for a donation to cover transport, which is £250, we wish to give a more responsible alternative to buying a kitten from a breeder.
