Today, the dog that my friend pulled from the shelter all of a sudden had a seizure. She is at the vet now with an estimated bill of 1900.00. Of course, she said yes... save this girl. Of course. She will hopefully bring home a healthier dog in a few days, take care of her during her rehab, fall in love with her and then find her a home. I imagine this will all happen a lot quicker than the credit card bill will be paid off. I also know she will probably rescue another dog in need before that credit card bill is paid off. I wonder what she will pass on in her own life to pay that hospital bill for a dog she barely knows. A vacation? A hairdo? A new car?
At GSROC we have always taken in dogs that we know are sick or injured. We know they will cost us more money than we could ever recoup on adoption fees. We also take in dogs that we think are healthy, and like my friend today, they end up costing us thousands of dollars. We just had a litter of 8 pups found out in the desert come into the rescue. Puppies are expensive anyway because there are two sets of shots and of course, getting them altered... but these puppies were sick. 5 of them ended up in the ER with a staggering bill of almost 6000.00.
Sometimes when I tell someone what our adoption fee is, I see them grimace for a second. I know that they don't know how much our vet bills are. I know they don't know how much money we actually spend on these dogs. They don't know that we have garage sales and bake sales constantly to try to pay our bills. They don't know that to get a dog at the Orange County Animal Shelter is over 200.00 now.
I do know that within 24 hours of having their new dog in their home, they know it is the best money they ever spent. And believe me... you are getting a bargain.
