Chin dropped off at rescue -- owner wants back when he gets back on feet?

[greychins]

So, in March 2012, a couple in their 20's purchased one of our pedigreed chinchilla kits. I received an email from them a bit ago, stating:

Hey, there isn't really an easy way to say this so I am just going to come out with it. We are having some financial issues and are having a hard time keeping the house cool enough for Keisa and giving her everything she needs. We don't have the time to give her the love or attention she deserves either. We are so busy just trying to make it that we feel she deserves a better home. We wanted to know if you'd be interested in taking her back, we may try and get her back when we are back on our feet but as of right now we just don't really have the means to take care of her like she deserves. I'm not sure how we would transport her as we don't have a car that could make it up there with working air conditioning.

So, long story short, I pay one of my friends to drive down to their location (2.5-3 hours from here) to get the chin and bring it back. That was done with the ok of the owners of this chin.

So the conversation continues:

Their email:
Looks like she is going to pick her up on Sunday, do you plan on selling Keisa or will she become part of your breeders or pets?

My email:
We have more than enough breeders/pets, we actually started adopting out some of our pets cause I had waaay too many pets and not enough room for rescues. So, likely, Keisa will be adopted out. Though, depending on how she's turned out (now that she's a bit more grown up), she might be kept for us to show her, see how she does, and if she did well, then she could be added to the breeding program. We'll just have to wait and see when I get her back.

Their email:
Well, Keisa will be coming with a cage and a ton of other stuff we got her over time, so you'd only need table space.

My email:
Unfortunately, that's beside the point. The space taken by her cage could be used for a cage that would hold rescues. I don't have endless tables to put these cages on, just what I have, and usually those are all full of cages holding rescues.

As for her being kept here, in all honesty, if I thought she was show quality, I probably would have kept her in the first place, and as I didn't, she will likely be adopted out. I understand your concern, but I have been very happy with the homes our chins have gone to - we've only had a handful of chins returned in 9 years, so it's not common. Usually, we have homes that are just nuts about chins and think they're the greatest and spoil them to death.

And, it's usually one or two-chin homes. The thing with the rescue is that when I have a ton of chins here, each chin gets a lot less attention than it would in a home with one or two chins. Part of the reason I've adopted out some of my own pets is because I realize they'd get a lot more attention elsewhere. Currently, the rescue is just about full. We have 22 chins (some are ours), 3 guinea pigs, the prairie dog, 4 rabbits, and 8 rats. That's 38 animals. With more coming in a few days. I can't say each animal gets individualized attention every day the way they would if they were in a home that didn't have quite as many critters. Sure, they get attention maybe every other day and they get spoiled and all, but it's not the type of attention they'd get in a one-chin home. Unfortunately, I can't spend hours with each chin even if I wanted to. That's why I've been only keeping the pets that I can't live without (which, at the moment, are only 2 chins as pets - my 1st and 3rd chin), cause I don't think it's fair to the others to keep them here when I'm so busy socializing rescues.

When she gets here, I could try to pair her up with another female and see how that goes. They could get adopted out together and then they'd have a playmate and a new family.

So I don't hear back from them, until today, when Keisa arrives. Now, the people picking her up forgot to have the forms filled out and signed, so I don't yet have my surrender forms in hand.

Now, Keisa is a bit more grown up, doesn't look too bad, but I want to give myself a few days to judge this for my own. But, I figured I'd email and let them know she got her.

My email:
Got Keisa today. She looks pretty good actually. No promises, but we may hang onto her and show her in October and see how she does.

I heard that my friend forgot the forms that would normally be filled out/signed, so I'm attaching them for you. If you could get those back to me, that would be great. Thanks!

Their email:
We are so thrilled to hear that! We have been upset all day, just missing her. If you can show her we would love it, we would even pay for her food when we get back on her feet, along with any other supplies she may need while shes with you.

Now what does this sound like to you? To me it sounds like they want me to pet sit the chin, even though they supposedly understood that they are surrendering this chin to the rescue.

My email:
I'm giving myself a few days to decide if we're going to show her or not, so I can see her at different times and see what I think.

Here's the thing. Even if I do keep her and show her. Say she does good at show and we decide to breed her. There's not a real "nice" way to say this, but say I decided to keeping Keisa and use her for breeding as part of my herd... she would be my chinchilla then, and would be staying here. I understand you want to get on your feet and get her back, but this is not a pet sitting business -- this is a rescue that breeds chinchillas on the side. If you wanted someone to pet sit her, you could have found a pet-sitter or something of the sort, but that's not what we are. You signed (or should be filling out, signing, and emailing back to me) the surrender form that I emailed you. That form gives Keisa over to the rescue and relinquishes any ownership right you have in her. That's how it works. It even says on the form --> "I understand that once surrendered, this animal will not be returned to me. " This wouldn't be the first time that someone has said, hey, hang onto the chin for a year and I'll come back and get it. I'm not saying you wouldn't come back, but giving a chin to the rescue means you have given it up. If we decided to adopt her out, and she happened to be up for adoption at the time you were ready to bring her back into your life, you would be welcome to adopt her. But that's all I can tell you. What you're asking for is for me to pet sit her until you're back on your feet, and that we don't do.

So... I'm trying to be nice, I really am. But first, he's asking me to keep the chin. Ok, even if I did... then I feel that it's my chin, and he wouldn't be "getting it back" if I decided to keep it. But then later, with what he says, he makes it sound like he wants me to just pet sit the thing. But then... that wouldn't be surrendering it over to the rescue. And in the first email I sent him, the one where I said "I got Keisa today, she's doing fine... yadda yadda" I sent him the surrender form and the info sheet that I have all surrenders fill out. Needless to say, he has not filled out and returned those.

So... I'm not quite sure what to do here.

On a side note -- we DO actually do what we call "boarding" --- that's when someone's had a rescue on hold for longer than a month, we charge $5/week for them to keep it here after the month. That started as a result of people putting animals on hold, and then pushing off picking them up.... for months at a time. So, it's not like I couldn't board her... but, that was NOT the impression I was under when he told me she needed to come back to the rescue, so I almost don't even want to offer that to him. Not to mention, I had to fork over the money for gas to get this chinchilla ($40), and if I'm being thought of as a pet-sitting service, I feel like I should be reimbursed for that.

Any thoughts on this entire situation?

Also, I'm iffy on whether, if they are having financial problems now... who says they'd be able to afford the air conditioning and have the time for the chin later? Most people don't go from "too broke to afford air conditioning low enough for a chin" to "rich beyond all means." But that's just my thoughts.

Everyone else?

 

[Riven]

It doesn't appear to me that they are sure what's going on. I would make it clear to them what you plan to do with her in an email.

For example: Thank you for your offer to help provide food, etc. for her. I am planning on:

A: putting her up for adoption so she can find a good forever home.
B: putting her into our breeding herd where she was will have a forever home here with us.
C:keeping her for you at the cost of $5 per week to cover her feed and care, this is due 1 month in advance for each month.

but to complete this I need you to fill out the attached forms.

Thanks.

Keep it simple and too the point. As for the gas fee, if you're going to put her in breeding it doesn't seem like $40 is a lot of money for a chin to put into breeding... If it's boarding then they need to be responsible for that fee and anything you needed to pay to compensate your friend for getting her.

As for going from broke to rich... I don't see anywhere that they said they would be rich. I think the whole conversation I am reading looks sketchy and jumps around anyway, so I don't know if there are parts missing or what. People do lose a job and only have enough for basics, but then find another job and can do things they did before, like care for a pet. I don't see anything odd about that. It is pretty clear that they care about her, or they would have just put her on CL and sold her for some extra cash.

ETA: even the title of this is confusing, you say chin dropped off at rescue, then say you had to set up a friend to go get it. I guess to me a rescue is a rescue, either you're taking back a kit you bred, or you're taking in a rescue...

 

[Pookinaround]

If it were me I'd send her a certified letter with a copy of the surrender form, SASE, and a letter stipulating your conditions like if in the event you show her she is yours, if she doesn't sign the form and return it to you then she is subject to a boarding fee etc. Sounds like they don't even have the money to file a small claims case but if in the event they did you have your letter as proof. Oh and I'd keep paper copies of all of your emails too especially the first one where they were crying the blues.

 

[Andrea]

That's a tough situation. In my opinion, if he REALLY wanted to keep her, he would have found a friend or family member who could have temporarily held onto her. Him giving her over to you is, in my opinion and obviously yours as well, a surrender. I think you should encourage him to sign the form and tell him that either you will give her a good home, or you will find one for her. I wouldn't give her back to him simply because who is to say he won't run into more financial troubles? I'm sure you don't want improper care due to funds on your mind. I hope it works out!

 

[Chinchilla63]

I'm not a breeder or a rescue, but from what you've described I think it's really important to be clear with the (former) owners.
If you've taken her back, it doesn't matter if you're going to keep her or rehome her. Once they've surrendered her, it's up to you. I wouldn't leave any wiggle room for them to hassle you about getting her back when they have more money/miss her/have more time for her. It sounds like you have your hands more than full as it is...you don't need to be worrying about them popping up at some point wanting her back.
It's a blessing that there are people like you out there willing to do what it takes to protect these animals and make sure they are loved and cared for when so many people seem to abandon them without a thought.
Be firm...I think it will save everyone heartache in the end.

 

[greychins]

Currently, part of the problem is that I don't know what I want to do with her. Which wouldn't be a problem if I had the form from him, signed, saying he was handing the chin over to the rescue. At the moment this would have to be my statement -- "I am going to take a few days to decide if we will keep her until the October show. If we do keep her til then, and she shows well, we will keep her and she will be part of our breeding herd. If she does poorly, then she will be adopted into a forever home."

Right, I agree that if I was getting her for breeding, the $40 is my expense. I have no problem with that. I just think that if I was going to "board" her, then they should cover that expense.

The whole conversation is up there, no missing parts. As for putting her on craigslist and selling her for extra cash -- my contract for adoptions/selling chins is that if the person doesn't want them anymore, they have to bring them back. So, according to that, they did what they were supposed to (well, short of actually bringing them back, cause their car didn't have air).

If you've taken her back, it doesn't matter if you're going to keep her or rehome her. Once they've surrendered her, it's up to you.

See, and that's what I think. But I feel like they're trying to make me feel bad. I mean, I'm not trying to be mean, but this is not "chin boarding" that I do here. I have rescues, I have breeder chins (the two are separate obviously), and they get sold and very rarely returned, but when they do, I've never in my life hung onto a chin to wait for someone to be financially stable. I kinda feel like if that's what he wanted, he should have found a local friend who could have kept her, and left me out of the whole situation. Because to me, calling up the rescue and asking for the chin to be taken back, means the chin is coming to the rescue.

I'm really not much for the boarding. It's rare we even have to charge the $5/week cause now that we have that provision, people usually hurry up with picking up their chins so they don't get charged. So I really don't want someone else's chin being my responsibility for... weeks? months? years? who knows. I mean, that leaves a lot of unanswered questions. Who pays for vet bills? At what point do vet bills become "excessive"? I just... ugh. I'm sure this guy doesn't know about the boarding thing, so I'd rather not go that route... except, that these people are making me feel bad, like I feel like I'm sounding like the "bad person" by not wanting to hang onto the chin... but that wasn't what I thought I was getting into when they said they were bringing the chin back.

 

[Pookinaround]

You could include in the letter that they have x amount of time to make their intentions known (make it fair) and to protect all parties involved to respond in writing as well then at least you'd know where you stand. I'd also include that failure to respond will result in the animal being considered surrendered after said amout of time has elapsed. I'd be happy to help you write something. (I swear if I believed in reincarnation I would swear Judge Judy was my mother in a former life LOL). J/K I just love her to death. Seriously though I'd write the letter. I'd also include that if they don't agree with terms set forth they have a set period of time to come get the chin at their expense.

 

[Riven]

In my opinion, if he REALLY wanted to keep her, he would have found a friend or family member who could have temporarily held onto her.

I disagree with this whole heartedly. Firstly you state contract, does the contract say with hard times send the chin to a friend? I'm guessing it says if you are unable to keep the chin it needs to be returned. That's what they did. Secondly, I boarded chins for a girl, now a friend, for nearly a year while she finished college, prior to that her brother was caring for them and not long after coming here one died of fatty liver and the vet said it was probably due to diet. She provided good food, but the brother and step mom feed it a steady diet of raisins and junk food. I knew the lines the chin was from and the breeder it came from, it was not an issue in the lines.

If you don't board, then you don't board. Lay that out, send them the papers and exactly what to expect ( rehoming ) and be done with it.

 

[greychins]

The contract does say that if they can't keep the chin they need to return it. So you are correct there. However, I feel like this could have been a totally different situation had they emailed and said, "I know the contract says to return it, but I think I can't keep it for this little amount of time, so I was wondering if..." and the "if" could be (1) if you (meaning me) could care for it, or (2) if a relative could care for it (and then for either) and then for the chin to be returned to the owner when the owner is financially stable.

Now... their first email does say they "may" try to get her back. Well, ok, sure, I did read that part, I don't dispute that.. but "may" is awfully iffy. I "may" win the lotto too. I feel like, had they been more specific and said they for sure wanted her back, I would have given them some options. Maybe one would have been bring her here, maybe not, but I would have at least known. Versus this instance where I arranged for someone to go get her, and then this owner starts asking if I'm going to keep her and this and that and when I start saying likely no... that's where it starts becoming iffy.

The sentence "If you can show her we would love it, we would even pay for her food when we get back on her feet, along with any other supplies she may need while shes with you." To me, that says "we'll pay for her food so that we're paying for her care while you're watching her for us until we can get her back" -- but maybe that's me reading too much into it.

If you don't board, then you don't board. Lay that out, send them the papers and exactly what to expect ( rehoming ) and be done with it.

And really, we don't. The "boarding" we do is "boarding" of our own chins/rescues when someone's taking a bit too long to come get their pet. To me, that's completely different than the way boarding would be in a situation like this.

 

[tunes]

Maybe I'm confused by all this, but this doesn't strike me as a rescue situation at all. You didn't adopt out a "rescue" chin to them that they are returning. You sold them a chin they can no longer care for. They asked you to take back a chin that you bred, that you sold them.

I've done that. But once they are back in my possession, the people are out of luck. I don't sign forms saying it's a rescue, when it isn't. I don't say that I may adopt it out later, blah, blah. You give the chin back to me, the chin that I bred and sold you, and that chin is now mine. Period. Now you need to decide if you are going to re-sell the chin you received back or if you are going to keep it, but that is none of the business of the people who turned her back over to you. At this point, stop communicating. The deal is done.

 

[Pookinaround]

No offense but I do think that you made a mistake by telling them you may show the chin. You are saying these are people who can't even afford to get the a/c in the car fixed in the middle of summer. They may be re-thinking their decision about giving up such a valuable "SHOW CHIN"... Just a thought anyway.

 

[EMSChins]

I agree with Tunes on this one. Once you decide to take the chin back, you owe them no further communication. It is harsh but once they surrender the chin what happens to it is no longer their concern. It is in your possession and it will be well taken care of, don't let them make you feel guilty because they couldn't (or maybe even wouldn't) take care of it. Take your time in evaluating it for health and temperament, let alone show potential before deciding what to do wit it. You owe them no explanation. You have a good reputation with those of us here on the forum.

 

[greychins]

Well I suppose it may not be considered a rescue situation, but the few chins we've ever gotten back we've just considered "rescues." (that said, we've only ever gotten "rescue" chins back -- this is the first "pedigreed" chin we've had returned). The reason being that we got the chins back because the owners no longer wanted or could care for the chin. That's like the definition of every rescue we get in -- either don't want it, can't keep it, can't afford it. I get the view that it's not a rescue situation, but even when we sell pedigreed chins, they still sign the form saying if they can't keep it, they return it to us. The forms I was asking to be filled out -- one is simply an information form asking basic information -- name of chin, age of chin, any health problems, gender, what food is being fed, and so on. Just for our knowledge. The other is our actual surrender form, which says:

As the legal owner of this animal, I, _________________________ (name), surrender my ________________ (type of animal, ex. chinchilla, rabbit, etc.) named _________________ to NWI Chinchillas (NWI). I do this freely and without reservation. I understand that upon surrender, I relinquish all property rights and ownership of this animal, and that NWI is given full claim and control of this animal. I understand that once surrendered, this animal will not be returned to me. By signing this form, I allow NWI to care for and re-home this animal as they see fit.

The reason I like to have that filled out is so no one tries to come back later and say "oh she said we'd get it back" or tries to put words in my mouth.

ETA: I realize, now that all this has happened, that it was a mistake to even suggest that the chin might stay here. At the time I was simply trying to be nice and to let them know that it was a possibility. But in reality... here or elsewhere... even if I adopted out the chin, the chin would be well cared for. I am nothing but happy with my adoptive homes. Had two I was unhappy with... they returned the chins (not these people), but otherwise, completely happy. So it's not like their chin was going to a bad situation coming here, regardless of whether I kept it or not.

Regardless, after reading everyone's comments, I agree that once the chin's here, I don't have to go any further, tell them anything. They surrendered it and that's that.

 

[halfstache]

I'm sure its quite common but personally I really dislike the idea of selling an animal or anything for that matter with a contract stipulating that the new owner must return to the seller if they can no longer care for it or whatever. Seems to me that once you've sold something it is no longer yours and you have no say in it anymore.

Now you have a problem with people who appear to have followed through on the contract and returned the animal, or at least allowed for the return of the animal at your expense. It sounds to me like the buyer was not fully committed to the idea of never seeing the chin again, and is stalling on signing surrender papers in order to have a shot at reclaiming her. If push comes to shove though, what I see here is a breach of contract where the it stipulates that they had to return the animal to you. While they did allow for its return, they did not return it to you. I think this is an important difference, and should allow you to keep the animal to do with as you wish.

Another thing that I thought of while reading this thread is that if you offer a boarding service of any sort in the future it should be paid for in advance for a specific amount of time. There should be documentation stating the terms of the boarding service and actions that will be taken should the owner not pick up the animal in a timely manner. I would imagine something like X dollars per week for a regular boarding fee, XX dollars per day not picked up in time, Failure to pay late fee, or failure to pick up animal after 14 days beyond the agreed upon date will result in forfeiture of the animal. Vet bills should be the sole responsibility of the owner. You'd want to have some sort of arrangement regarding those as well.

Anyhow I guess my point is I think this chinchilla is now yours to do with as you see fit, and in the future more documentation should be required before any transaction which outlines every possible circumstance that you can think of.

 

[tunes]

halfstache - ALL rescues require that you sign a contract stating that you will return the animal to them in the event that you can't afford it. Dogs, cats, horses. I've never seen a single one that doesn't. So if it was a true rescue, the contract would be fine. Worthless, but fine. You're not talking about a car here, you're talking about something living and I think that's different with a return or buy back policy.

However, I've found that contracts aren't worth the paper they are written on. You can have people sign them, but they won't adhere to them. I think she's pretty lucky she got her chin back at all, rather than the people selling her to make a quick buck. They must have believed the contract they signed was legally binding, which it isn't. I used to require a contract as well. It wasn't because I wanted to hoard all my animals back to me, it's because I wanted to know what happened to them if they could no longer be cared for. Even if I couldn't take them back myself (due to cage space, distance, etc.) then I would actively help to find the animal a new home. I no longer do that, because as I stated, those contracts are cute, but not legally binding in anyway. They aren't even notarized.

 

[greychins]

IIf push comes to shove though, what I see here is a breach of contract where the it stipulates that they had to return the animal to you. While they did allow for its return, they did not return it to you. I think this is an important difference, and should allow you to keep the animal to do with as you wish.

Good point, I hadn't thought of that. I don't think it will come to that, but that's a good catch on your part. *thumbs up*

While we had a contract before, the contract (as it currently is) was changed/amended as part of Petfinder.com's requirements for being listed as a rescue on their site. I won't start an argument over binding vs. not-binding (I'm an associate attorney and I work at a law firm -- we've gone to court over contracts written on scraps of paper when two friends were out at a bar -- at least a few of which were found to be binding) -- anyway, that's beside the point. The point is, binding or not, we have had luck in that many people do adhere to the contracts. In the last 9 years, we've had... maybe 5? 6? 7? chins returned? Not very many. All returned because the people said that they remembered that they had signed the contract saying they'd bring the chin back to us. Now, that said... I realize that it could be that 40 other chins were simply sold by their adoptive homes... but at least for those few, we did get them back.

 

[Claire D]

Well I suppose it may not be considered a rescue situation, but the few chins we've ever gotten back we've just considered "rescues." (that said, we've only ever gotten "rescue" chins back -- this is the first "pedigreed" chin we've had returned). The reason being that we got the chins back because the owners no longer wanted or could care for the chin. That's like the definition of every rescue we get in -- either don't want it, can't keep it, can't afford it. I get the view that it's not a rescue situation, but even when we sell pedigreed chins, they still sign the form saying if they can't keep it, they return it to us.

I agree with the others - this is not a rescue. It is a simple re-home, especially since it is your chin and you may be choosing to breed her.
As an aside (and please hear this as it is intended - as constructive criticism), you're effectively laying yourself open to being seen as someone who breeds 'rescues' - simply because that's what you call the return of any chin (in this case, one you bred) - can you see how this would be perceived?

There's a whole thread (here) on what defines a rescue - might be worth a read and something to ponder.


As for the rest, I think you're both getting tangled up in convoluted waffle and, TBH, it is confusing just reading the thread! It seems both the owner and yourself are flip-flopping between ideas and possibilities. I agree with those who have said you need to be clear what is happening, that the chin has been returned as per your initial sales contract and that now you consider the chin yours again. Once you have communicated that the matter should be settled.

 

[Andrea]

I disagree with this whole heartedly. Firstly you state contract, does the contract say with hard times send the chin to a friend? I'm guessing it says if you are unable to keep the chin it needs to be returned. That's what they did. Secondly, I boarded chins for a girl, now a friend, for nearly a year while she finished college, prior to that her brother was caring for them and not long after coming here one died of fatty liver and the vet said it was probably due to diet. She provided good food, but the brother and step mom feed it a steady diet of raisins and junk food. I knew the lines the chin was from and the breeder it came from, it was not an issue in the lines.

If you don't board, then you don't board. Lay that out, send them the papers and exactly what to expect ( rehoming ) and be done with it.

She stated that she doesn't board other than in the case of late pick-ups for kits, so this is a surrender situation. The reason I said that he could have found a friend or family member to take the chin in temporarily was due to that being the only real way he could keep the chin after getting back on his feet. Not sure why that's a disagreeable idea in this situation since greychins said it would be ok with her. I think everyone should have a contingency plan and I know I'd be having a family member watch my pets while getting back on my feet rather than surrendering them. Hopefully it never comes to that, but I'm just saying if he really wanted to keep her, surrendering her wasn't the best idea. It's great that you boarded a chin for a year but I don't think everyone has the space for that...at least that seems to be part of the issue here.

 

[Godofgods]

Assuming my mind is thinking like the owners (and they are telling the truth), i can completely understand where they are coming from.

They recognize that they are lacking funds to take care of their chin properly. Which leaves only two real options. Treat them poorly, or surrender them. So despite not wanting to, they chose to do whats better for the pet and surrender her to someone capable of taking care of her.

But in their mind, no matter what happens, its still their pet. (My family had to surrender two dogs about 10 years ago, and i still think of them as 'my dogs') So they are trying every which way they can to work out a solution where they can have her taken care of, and somehow get her back when they are able. The fact that some of the ideas they are presenting may seem a bit eccentric, shows how desperate they are to think of anything that could possibly work.

I can personally relate to that, because not to long ago i was almost at the same point. Having been injured at work and becoming disabled in '08 my funds were really starting to dry up. I was looking at not being able to take care of my chins very very soon. And its a hard thing to face.

Fortunately my dad helped take care of them after i ran out, until my disability was approved and i was able to resume. But for the few months in between i would have been helpless to provide for my chins.

So i can understand where they are coming from. Its not an easy thing to have to do. But at the same time the rescue has their own problems and limitations. So its really up to them on whether or not they think they will be able to help or not.

 

[greychins]

I agree with the others - this is not a rescue. It is a simple re-home, especially since it is your chin and you may be choosing to breed her.
As an aside (and please hear this as it is intended - as constructive criticism), you're effectively laying yourself open to being seen as someone who breeds 'rescues' - simply because that's what you call the return of any chin (in this case, one you bred) - can you see how this would be perceived?

Well, I definitely did not think about it that way. As I said, the reason I had termed this a "rescue" was simply because when we get in a chin, I'd just always thought of it as a rescue chin. Though, this was the first time we have gotten back a pedigreed chin that we had sold, and I realize that is different. Having read this, I do see why the semantics are important here... so to clarify --> this is a pedigreed chin that was returned to us, the breeder, not a chin that was given to the rescue.

There's a whole thread (here) on what defines a rescue - might be worth a read and something to ponder.

I have read that thread in the past, I recognize it. Just to touch on a few points in that thread... As for my rescue -- we take in all chins (well, and lately small animals) that come to us, regardless of health, care, condition, and all that. We don't turn away unhealthy chins, they are simply taken to the vet and we pay for their vet care, regardless of what that ends up costing -- hopefully to help "fix" their health problem and make them adoptable. If they're not adoptable, they stay here. We don't pay for rescues, we just get calls about this or that from someone, and they bring the critter here or we go and get it.

I have not communicated to this person since the last email where I said I was not a petsitting service. I feel like if I email them again, it just opens up the whole can of worms all over again. I feel like this sentence in my last email, summed it up pretty well:

"giving a chin to the rescue means you have given it up. If we decided to adopt her out, and she happened to be up for adoption at the time you were ready to bring her back into your life, you would be welcome to adopt her."

Andrea - I think the idea is perfectly fine. Had this person clearly communicated that they wanted, for sure, to keep this chin, this whole situation could have been different. They brought more than enough food, hay, supplies with this chin that actually affording the chin was not the issue -- affording the air conditioning and not having the time for the chin were the real issues. Had they simply communicated that they needed a petsitter or something of the sort, I would gladly have told them, hey, go find one, you don't need to bring the chin back if you want to keep it.

The point of the contract saying that the chin must be returned is to (hopefully) prevent people from selling these chins on craigslist or other places. Handing the chin over to a friend and then the chin later going back to the adoptive home... that's not something I'm going to quibble about, because I believe that if they wanted to find a pet sitter/friend, they would make sure the person caring for the chin knew about basic chin care, and they'd be getting the chin back... to me, that's worlds different than selling the chin on craiglist to the first person who shows up with the money.