Has anyone ever done this?

[halfstache]

I had a thought the other day and wondered if anyone had ever tried it before. You know how when people are trying to find a new home for a chinchilla they can no longer keep or maybe one they are just trying to sell, they will often times say something along the line of "I'm asking a rehoming fee of $100 to ensure that the chinchilla goes to a good home". This is said with the expectation that if the person can afford the animal then they can more likely afford the vet bills and cost of supplies. Anyhow my thought was if you are simply trying to rehome one, and your simply asking for a monetary payment as proof of financial responsibility, why not ask for a larger sum of money, say 150-200, and then when the person comes to pick up the chinchilla to be rehomed and hands over the payment, why not either only accept a small portion of the amount asked for, or make the entire amount free. This would first prove the person could have afforded it, and then would ensure that there was already a head start towards a vet fund or money that could be spent on a better cage. I understand that a good portion of the time money received goes to paying for food and stuff for other rescues waiting to find homes, but it still seems like a good idea to me.

 

[DaddyslilDimwit]

That would be a good idea, but, most people are out to make money one way or another, and now a days, if someone sees $200 in front of them, they'll probably take it.

 

[Riven]

I think that saying that because people will or can pay more for a pet means they'll take better care is not true.

Most breeder sell their pet quality chins for $100 more or less for a "basic" chin... pet stores $150, so asking $200, most people will just go to the pet store... I don't see any benefit in that.

 

[rawrrr]

I've had someone do this. When I was talking to the previous owner of Sniffles about getting him, she mentioned that she does like to do rehoming fees, partly because she feels that people don't treat "free" animals as well and partly to ensure that they can pay for taking care of the animals. We never discussed an exact fee, though, but my boyfriend and I came prepared to spend $100 when we met her. When we offered what we thought was fair, she said to keep it and put it towards the chinchillas and his stuff.

It was pretty clear though that she was not trying to make money, just trying to find a good home for her pet (who she couldn't keep, since she was moving across the country). And as for us, we were very happy! We're saving up for a FN cage so the head start towards that was great, and we would never care less for Sniffles just because he came to us free!

 

[starleomach]

I take rehome fees for rescues because rescues come with vet bills...for the few that don't there are several who do. and it does weed out people looking for free/cheap animals to breed.