Have you decided to take a dog from the animal welfare and give it a new home?! Perhaps have you have then already dealt with the question of local but also of international animal welfare? In this context one always finds terms such as “animal adoption agreement”, “protection fee” or even “partial flight costs”.
Also here to shed some “light” and to explain to you the background, first some important preliminary information:
- A “protection agreement” or with us “animal adoption agreement” is not a purchase contract. We do not sell animals; you can adopt animals from us.
- A “protection fee” is not a purchase price” – it fulfills rather different purposes: Coverage of accrued costs and also creates a “barrier” not to get a dog thoughtlessly.
Now there will be the one or other person who will ask, “Should not the animal welfare associations be happy, when I give a poor dog in need a loving new home? Why also must I pay for it?”
Gladly we explain at this point why the protection fee and also the sharing of the flight costs is vital to our work:
We do not want to earn money with our protégés. Quite on the contrary, we all invest not only a lot of time, energy, labor and love in our work and in the dogs in need – often we also pay our expenses or other costs privately. This begins with telephone and fuel costs, enough food and equipment for our care dogs and goes up to vet costs or airfare costs, when things get tight…
The following are the basic costs for (most of) our dogs:
- General check-ups by our contract veterinarians after adoption / rescue of the dog and at regular intervals until its placement
- Vaccinations (at least two, usually three basic immunizations)
- Worm treatments (always several)
- Flea / tick repellent (multiple doses)
- Blood tests including for Mediterranean diseases
- EU-pet passport
- Microchip including implantation
- Food
- Flight costs
- Traces (a database system introduced by the EU, which records all animal traffic, within the EU as well as entering or leaving from the EU)
- Possibly accommodation costs
- Castrations (from a certain age)
- Transport costs
In addition to these basic costs, there are many other further costs that are usually forgotten: Accessories (bowls, leashes, collars / harnesses), shampoos, food supplements and homeopathy for the immune system, trips to the vet and the foster care, transport boxes, etc.
Often dogs that have been taken in or have been rescued from the street need special health treatment. Also operations and physiotherapy are once in a while necessary to provide the basis for a healthy life for the dogs under our protection. Here costs can very quickly amount to a small fortune; especially for a non-profit making Association such as the Pointer-Freunde / Pointer Friends e.V.
The sum of an adoption fee (protection charge including airfare) can therefore not cover all the costs. The protective fee incl. flight costs are always a mixed calculation: The costs for younger dogs or puppies are often not as high as for older or maybe sick or injured dogs.
We have decided therefore deliberately on a uniform adoption fee to provide fair opportunities for a new home for all dogs under our protection. Since, for us all dogs are equally worth a “lot”.
The fee will be due upon conclusion of the animal adoption agreement. You can pay us by bank transfer to our bank account or through PayPal. In exceptional cases we accept also cash against receipt. (Just to clarify: Should the dog in the unlikely event be returned to our Association, a refund of the adoption fee (protection charge including airfare) is not intended. This is true after a week as well as after one year.
