So, at the expo this past weekend, we ran into this one very nice young lady, who was looking to adopt our adoptable guinea pig, Hamilton. (I should note, just in case it's not clear, this is not the same person who was reaching into the cage without permission).
She kept coming up to the booth, checking with her parents (she lived with them in an apartment for the moment), coming back to see him / pet him, and so on. Back and forth. I guess she never convinced them, but she did take a card, so maybe I'll hear from her. Not sure if that's a good or bad thing. Read on.
Anyway, I wanted to quickly talk about a few things that were said, because I feel that it brings up important discussions.
She had asked what the adoption fee was. A single adult guinea pig is $25.
Later, I hear that she told my mom, "well, if he was $20, I'd just take him." Followed by, "but I only have $10 on me."
Now, let me start by saying that there's nothing wrong with someone having a budget... but if $5 is the difference between adopting or not adopting, like if that's THAT important to someone... I want to know how someone is going to pay the upkeep. Guinea pig food is EXPENSIVE. Do you know why we feed Oxbow Cavy Cuisine? Because quite a bit of the other foods out there are complete guinea pig junk food, and we'd rather not feed that... so for the good stuff, the cost adds up. If you're getting it at the pet store, it's like $15 for 3 pounds.. and with how much the guinea pigs eat, that goes quick! They're called "pigs" for a reason. And of course, let's not forget the veggies and hay and all that, as well, that adds to the cost of keeping a guinea pig as well. Heck, even if it wasn't a guinea pig -- for chinchillas -- food, hay, dust, chew toys, bedding.. all that is bound to run more than $5/month even if you're buying in bulk... so sometimes I cringe when I hear people that are like that with money, because I wonder if either they're either trying to budget (fine) or trying to scrimp, and then later may scrimp on the necessities, because maybe they just don't have the money (also fine.. but then I tend to think people should wait to get a pet, if money is really tight... better to save up the money in case of an emergency).
Now, about the $10 part. I didn't hear it first hand, so I don't know exactly how it was said or how she may have meant it However... there's been plenty of times where people see a chin listed for $200 and say, "well, I only brought $100 with me" (I would assume, suggesting I should take $100 for it, as they still want to see the chin). My response is usually, "we take cards" (and nowadays, most people do pay with cards). Does this really work for some people? That they suggest they have less, and the rescue is like, "ah what the hell, sure, name your price?" I mean... I would tend to think not... At a garage sale, if there's a $15 end table and I've got $10, sure, then, I may ask, hey would the take less. But at a rescue or adoption event, it just amazes me. In case it's maybe not clear, the rescue (and most rescues) are not that dying for animals to leave, that we'll cut our adoption fees in half for you (or whatever percentage). The adoption fees are set at an amount where we feel, if you can afford the adoption fee, you can afford the pet.
Now, that's not to say that someone couldn't splurge on the pet and not take care of it, or save up all year to buy the pet and then have nothing left over to care for it. Of course, there's no way to know, and we can't possibly think like that or we'd all go insane. I realize that saying, "well if they can afford the pet, they can afford the care," is sort of like dog rescues' arguments of "you need a fenced yard... because it must automatically make you an awesome pet owner or something..." Which if you know me, despite my fenced yard, I tend to disagree with that blanket statement... so I do get it's one of those slippery slopes. Can people not have the money to adopt a pet and still be a good pet owner? Sure! Can someone not have a fence and still be a good dog owner? Sure! But like the dog rescues, we have to draw the line somewhere, because there ARE other people, where if they can't afford the adoption fee, they can't afford care. There's others where, if they can't afford the fence, they won't watch the dog. What it comes down to is this -- you just never know. So, we try to be careful, and we have to draw the line, somewhere. Not saying everyone has to like or agree with all of our fees and whatever, but they are what they are. That is all.
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