Teebs Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 http://www.centralwesterndaily.com.au/news...up/2040502.aspx AFTER the death of her family’s much-loved dog Megs, Linda White decided to rescue a puppy from the RSPCA.However when she discovered that she’d have to pay $350 for the dog, she realised she’d have to look elsewhere. “We didn’t want a freebie, we were happy to pay something and we really wanted to save a dog,” Ms White said. “We’ve had a lot of costs recently and we just couldn’t afford to pay that much money.” In the end Ms White found a seven-week old puppy on Facebook. “We found someone on Facebook who had the same sort of dog we wanted, a cross cattle dog, and they even dropped it off to us.” Ms White said the high costs associated with getting a dog from the RSPCA would deter people from “doing the right thing”. RSPCA shelter manager Jenny Chapman said the $350 the organisation charged for puppies was a fair price. “At the end of the day the money we charge people doesn’t even cover our veterinarian costs,” she said. “People aren’t paying for the animal, they’re paying for the procedures, people will often pay twice that amount for cross breeds from local breeders.” Mrs Chapman said dogs that are six years old and older are sold for $180 in an effort to encourage people to adopt them, although the RSPCA has often paid many times more than that for the dog’s healthcare. All dogs bought at the RSPCA have undergone a series of health procedures including being vet checked, vaccinated, flea checked, de-sexed and undergoing a behaviour assessment. As a result of all of the time and money that goes into caring for the animals at the shelter Mrs Chapman said it’s just not possible to give animals away for free. “We need to make sure we’re still operational in 10 years’ time.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Ark Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 So happy that the White family managed to get a cheap " but not free" dog. Now they can take it home and not worry about vaccinating it or desexing it (because those vets are ripoff merchants like the RSPCA) and it will cost them hardly anything! When are the newspapers going to get a kick up the arse for running these stories? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raz Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 When are the newspapers going to get a kick up the arse for running these stories? I couldnt agree more, Ark. Absolutely ridiculous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 (edited) So instead of "rescuing" a pup, she lined the pockets of a back yard breeder and will now have to fork out for vaccinations, microchips and desexing. Some bargain. Of course if the dog never sees a vet some money will be saved. Pity the news report didn't address all those issues. We found someone on Facebook who had the same sort of dog we wanted, a cross cattle dog, and they even dropped it off to us.” And that rang no alarm bells?? So you never saw Mum or the littermates, have no idea what conditions the pup was raised in and have no indications of future temperament. Good one. Sounds like the "breeder" couldnt' get rid of it fast enough. Edited January 5, 2011 by poodlefan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teebs Posted January 5, 2011 Author Share Posted January 5, 2011 So happy that the White family managed to get a cheap " but not free" dog. Now they can take it home and not worry about vaccinating it or desexing it (because those vets are ripoff merchants like the RSPCA) and it will cost them hardly anything!When are the newspapers going to get a kick up the arse for running these stories? I addressed that in the comment i left behind - No idea if they will post it, the paper hates me when it comes to animal stories - I know one of the guys who works at the paper, i wish i was informative enough to do some sort of story on rescue or puppy farms, but sadly I am not Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paptacular! Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 How people think $350 is 'expensive' when all the vet work has been done is beyond me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teebs Posted January 5, 2011 Author Share Posted January 5, 2011 the paper have a facebook page if you want to leave comments : http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=142239108557 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tobie Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 I just spent over $1,000 on my dog at the vets. I would hate to think what would happen to this dog if it got sick. I guess they would dump it at the RSPCA as it cost too much to look after or god forbid the dog would just suffer and die in pain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curlybert Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Very unfortunate that the RSPCA rep didn't better explain the veterinary costs by emphasising the importance of desexing and vaccinatiion. Or perhaps she did and the paper chose not to use those bits. It's an appalling, unbalanced article and the newspaper will certainly be hearing from me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyla Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 I don't see how $350 could be considered a "high price" these days. When most BYBers charge as much or more than reg breeders, $350 is next to nothing, especially when you add in the extras that you don't have to worry about getting done yourself. I suppose it is expensive when you wake up and decide "I want a dog today. Can only pay what I've got in my wallet." If $350 is an extreme price, maybe they should have considered what a vet visit could cost...although I suppose they'll just breed it to cover their costs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Souff Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Twenty years purebred pups could be bought for $200. Rescue and RSPCA dogs cost about $50-$80 because they had been vaccinated by a vet who donated their services. People gave away pups from accidental litters of all types "Free to a Good Home" Ms White would have earned about one quarter of what she can earn today. Had Ms White been on welfare benefits she would have found it difficult to be able to afford to feed a medium/large dog, feeding the family was often done with the help of others if you were on benefits. Wonder if Ms White will desex the cheap crossbred mutt that she got from Facebook, or will she go on to breed litters of mongrel bred pups and sell them at today's prices as "cute puppies"? She probably wont be able to pay for desexing ...... not at today's prices. Troy you need a big thumbs down icon, just for people like Ms White. Souff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Troy you need a big thumbs down icon, just for people like Ms White.Souff How about this one Souffy? Or this one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Souff Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 I just spent over $1,000 on my dog at the vets. I would hate to think what would happen to this dog if it got sick. I guess they would dump it at the RSPCA as it cost too much to look after or god forbid the dog would just suffer and die in pain. Yes, that is what the RSPCA and pounds are there for.... aren't they ..... to care for the unwanted? And a dog can quickly become unwanted when the vet bills are looming large. Gosh, my vet got $90 last week because one of the old dogs here had a stomach bug. All fixed now ... until next time. In a year that one old dog has cost me around $1000 in vet bills for just minor things, but you wont be reading about it in the papers. Souff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Souff Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Troy you need a big thumbs down icon, just for people like Ms White.Souff How about this one Souffy? Or this one? Both will do just fine! One for the newspaper. One for Ms White. thanks PF Souff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leema Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 I commented on the original article... "Wow, $350 seems like a good price for a dog that is vaccinated, microchipped, desexed and vet checked. I wonder if Ms White's dog has any of these benefits." (or something to that affect.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSoSwift Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 My vet just gained $300 for a damaged toe!! The article is pooorly written and encourages people to buy from dodgy people. I doubt the puppy will get vaccinated and desexed and highly unlikely that it will recieve treatment when required. Yeh good one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loving my Oldies Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 How people think $350 is 'expensive' when all the vet work has been done is beyond me. Some people have the mentality that you owe THEM for actually giving the dog "a good home". I wouldn't mind the article if the newspaper then proceeded to give Ms White and BYB a serve and/or told some home truths about the on going cost of keeping a dog properly vaccinated, housed, fed, exercised, LOVED, etc etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 (edited) Never ceases to amaze me that people won't fork out $500 for a dog but will happily shell out four figures for a TV that will be long gone before the dog is. Assuming the dog makes it past the first year in the house that is. They'll avoid the vet and pinch pennies on dog food while having Foxtel too. Priorities are interesting things. Edited January 5, 2011 by poodlefan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curlybert Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 I have sent a polite but quite strident email to the journo who wrote the article - her email address appears (most conveniently!) at the article's end. And rather than a thumb's down emoticon to represent Ms White's stupidity and the paper's culpability, my sturdy peasant origins incline me to prefer a boot up a date. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abed Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 So instead of "rescuing" a pup, she lined the pockets of a back yard breeder and will now have to fork out for vaccinations, microchips and desexing. Some bargain. Of course if the dog never sees a vet some money will be saved. Pity the news report didn't address all those issues. We found someone on Facebook who had the same sort of dog we wanted, a cross cattle dog, and they even dropped it off to us.” And that rang no alarm bells?? So you never saw Mum or the littermates, have no idea what conditions the pup was raised in and have no indications of future temperament. Good one. Sounds like the "breeder" couldnt' get rid of it fast enough. Rescue cross breed pups are still the same products of a BYB with rescues providing the BYB with an outlet to dispose of pups that no one really wants. Adult rescues are a different proposition as they can be a properly assessed end product, but if you are not going to buy a pure breed pup from a registered and ethical breeder and punt on a cross breed, you may as well buy a cheapy IMHO if thats the type of pup you want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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