What To Charge To Rehome Pets?

Sometimes I get annoyed by some of the people who want to rehome their pets but also want to charge astronomical prices for them. I look on Craigslist and I see it all the time. Not that I am looking for a pet, but I do just like glancing at the ads. Maybe someday I will get to adopt some of the pets I find in the ads. LOL! Craigslist does not allow pet sales, and it seems a lot of people do not understand that. Craigslist only allows you to post ads and offer pets for a "small adoption fee". The problem with that is it's open to interpretation. Anyone can charge whatever they want as long as the other viewers don't think of the actual amount as the equivelant of a sale. But I have seen it before, people charging hundreds of dollars for a pet that should only cost no more than $100.

For example, tonight I saw an ad for someone wanting to sell a yorkshire terrier puppy. The pup is quite young still and rather small--what backyard beeders would regard as a "teacup yorkie". The title line of their ad reads that they want a small adoption fee. I can only imagine what the amount of this "adoption fee" is. Knowing some of the people who advertise on Craigslist just to save money, and knowing what some dumbasses want to charge for a runty yorkie, this poster's idea of a "small adoption fee" just might be as high as $1600, maybe more! That is NOT a small adoption fee. That is a monstrous selling price! I don't like people who charge so much just for runty pups anyway. It's dumb! Most pups that are too small are that way because they have health issues. Like they were born not getting enough nutrition from their mother. It causes them problems later on in life.

If I were the average consumer, I would watch out for anyone who wants more than $300 for a runty puppy. In fact, NO reputable breeder would sell a runty puppy for ANY amount of money! There's just too many health problems attached to that pup. Most good breeders prefer to keep those pups, mostly because they know the chances of that puppy dying are at least 50/50. I once knew someone, it was the person I got Bambi from, and back then I knew nothing about backyard breeders and the effects dwarfism has on dogs. Bambi had a little brother, that was less than half her size, yet the same age. Well, I saw him there when I first went to look at Bambi, and he was so tiny! I thought he was a rat! He was MUCH smaller than Bambi. One thing I remember about him though, his head looked almost too big for his body. I asked the breeder if they were going to sell that puppy, and the woman said no, she'd like to keep him.

Well, a week later, when Bambi was old enough to come home with me, her little brother was nowhere in sight. I asked the woman what happened to him, and she said that he died. He was fine one minute, jumping around, wanting to be played with. Then she turned her back on him for just a minute and when she came back to him, he was dead. The woman theorized that that pup's head was so big, when he jumped to try and get to her, he must have fallen backwards, which was how she found him, and because his head was so huge, it likely caused his neck to break when he hit the ground. That was sad! But that's what happens when people breed these undersized pups. And don't trust anyone who says their runty (or "teacup") pups are very healthy! All undersized pups will have some bad problems that are very likely to be very costly in the future. And in some cases, even fatal! Just don't risk it. Odessa was only 3 pounds for a long time, and we got her from one of the most reputable breeders in WA state! She still has some problems. Finding a dog food that she can eat without getting the runs is darn-nearly impossible! She can't have any of the cheap grocery store brands. Not that we give our dogs that junk anyway. Minnie is the same way! She's smaller than an average papillon, and though in my eyes, she looks like a good quality dog, in reality, she isn't. She is a poorly bred papillon, and there is some things I cannot give her either without her getting sick.

The problem with ads like this, if a dog is purebred, people think they can get away with charging high adoption fees for them. And I am not a mutt person. I understand those people who are, but I personally do not like mongrels. I'm not saying they can't be good pets, I'm just saying that I would never take a mongrel over a purebred dog, good quality or not. I would rather have a poorly-bred purebred dog than a mixed breed any day of the week! That's just my preference. Except when it comes to chihuahuas. With Chihuahuas, I simply MUST have good quality because I can't stand those Taco Bell dog lookalikes! I'm happy that Vegas came out as good as he did! He could have been shown, he's so good! But not anymore. He's done been neutered and I'm not into dog shows anymore. I could never have been separated from him for long anyway. He's my baby boy.