We all spend a lot of love, time and money on these animals and want to see them go to good, permanent, loving homes with people who have the knowledge and means to take care of them.
Generally speaking, if someone cannot afford a $50 adoption fee then they would not be able to afford to take good care of an animal; to provide good medical care and preventatives. There are exceptions where we help some adopters bear the burden financially but these are case by case and must be approved and voted on by the Friends membership.
The reason for this is that we want to make sure that our animals are going to a home where they will be safe and healthy and be kept up to date on vet care. Most veterinary offices are familiar with this protocol so when you ask for a vet reference, they know what you mean.
Also we need to establish that any potential adopter has a safe, fenced yard; and will provide shelter for the animal. We also want to ensure that they know how to introduce a new animal into their home, to their existing pets, to children, etc.
This is to ensure that an experienced person has some oversight on the adoption process; to make sure everyone understands their responsibilities and that the animal will be safe.
If we have a rescue that has expressed interest in an animal; local adoptions will still take precedent until we have arranged the transport. However, rescues often take HW positive animals and provide for their treatment, make sure any local adopters know this is their responsibility.
But when that happens, invariably we end up with fosters who are overwhelmed, not prepared and animals that get returned, animals that need extensive treatment or training and drain our resources. Also remember that we sometimes have to make difficult decisions about which animals to save, which ones get treatment, etc. due to limited funds and resources. We cannot save them all….
These rules are in place to ensure that you have a relatively stress-free, successful foster experience and to ensure the safety of our animals. And to ensure that our foster animals move on through the system to their safe, forever homes.