[BarksRehome]

I am conducting a survey about starting a website for rehoming your dog due to, for example, job relocation, downsizing to an apartment that won't allow your dog's breed, loss in the family and no where to put their dog. My goal is to keep dogs out of the shelters and into forever loving homes!
I would appreciate any feedback as well! Thank you!

Dog Rehoming Website - 0%

 

[Natasha33]

I took the survey but now have questions about this question from the survey:

• How much would you be willing to pay for this new service?
• Less than $500 per month
• Between $500 and $1000 a month
• Between $1000 and $1500 a month
• More then $1500 a month

Why is there a monthly fee starting at $500? What is this fee for? How does paying a huge monthly fee help people facing the possibility of rehoming due to limited finances?

Could you explain exactly what this website can do for people looking to rehome dogs themselves? What could this website do to keep bad breeders from using it to have yet another platform to sell their dogs under the guise of rehoming?

 

[traciek88]

I am really not comfortable with this idea, at all. This sounds like organized "Dog flipping" to me, or worse, like Natasha said, an outlet for backyard breeders and puppy millers. How exactly is this supposed to work? Someone pays you (hundreds!) to post pictures of their dog on a website to they can rehome them? They send their dog to a foster home for that fee? Is this just meant to be home-to-home rescues? How would you screen people both re-homing and adopting the dogs if it's just online? How do the dogs get from home to home? Do they have to be neutered and vaccinated? Do the people rehoming the dog get paid anything? How are you going to prevent problems like people "rehoming" stolen dogs? Or worse, dog fighters looking for live bait? This really just sounds like a pet-exclusive Craig's list.

First of all, the fee of $5-1500 to pay someone to rehome a dog is ridiculous and outlandish. As someone who has worked in shelters I will tell you that the majority of people who rehome their dogs have to do it because they lack money--they've been evicted, they can't afford to care for the dog/dog's needs, and they can't find a rental they can afford that allows dogs/their type of dog. If people have essentially, a full month's rent to spare, they can probably find a new home for their dog alone, or not even need to rehome them.

There are already a lot of shelters that do "home to home" adoptions, listing pets for adoption on their pet adoption list but the animal is in their own home until the new one crops up. If you really want to help keep pets in people's homes, a business is just not really the way to go. It's got to be a charity, unless you're selling something that will somehow benefit those in need. It's kind of like trying to help the homeless by selling houses...to the homeless. The people who have the money to keep a business running don't need the service, and the people who WOULD use this service are likely people who are abusing and exploiting dogs for profit. I think your heart might be in the right place but you need to do a lot more research into the rescue world, and the extreme dangers of selling OR rescuing animals, purely online.

You need to either completely revamp or scrap this idea.

 

[mathilda]

don't like the idea. sounds fishy to me.
If you decide against buying from a breeder and for buying a dog from a rescue organisation, I think it is better to go to a breed/type specific organisation or ask and support in the local shelter.

 

[blackdog]

There will be bad people out there who don't like dogs but wanting to "adopt" one so they can get paid a monthly stiped, I think that the idea is pretty bad and it will lead to mistreatment and neglect.

And if I wanted to adopt a dog I would go to a shelter, I don't need anything else.

 

[wespom]

terrible idea! you're looking to profit off this? lmao


they can go to a rescue for free or small fee
.
you're so nice ,offering to rehome for a massive profit!

 

[wespom]

also the words you use " purchase " a dog. shows me you are really not in it for the dogs well being but the $$$$$


humans adopt dogs

 

[travelingswift]

There's a website that does exactly this here in the Netherlands. It's solely for the purpose of rehoming family dogs -- no breeders or shelters are allowed to post. It's a free service to use and you cannot ask for money for your dog being placed.

It's quite well received, but MUCH smaller then the local craigslist-equivalent. There are probably only about 30 dogs listed rather then 3,000+. The level of detail required is also much higher. There is a long form that the owner fills out and is posted that goes into detail about the dog's personality, behaviors, history, health, and reason for rehoming.

Over here there are so many dogs being brought in from eastern Europe,Spain, Greece, Portugal, etc where stray/street dog numbers are out of control. These dogs are picked up, spayed/neutered and brought to NL, Belgium, Germany, UK for adoption. The craigslist is filled with them. It's nice having a website to go to that you KNOW you're getting a dog from a local family that has had the dog for a long time and knows it well.

Don't get me wrong - I have two eastern European adopted dogs sitting at my feet as I type this. But I also realize that for many people the sight-unseen adoption approach is too high risk. Going for an older dog that has lived with a family and it's issues (or lack of) are known is a safer bet.

So I am very much in favor of the idea as I've seen it work quite well! But it's done completely on a free-basis (there might be a 5 EUR fee to post an ad, but that's it). And as I said earlier, current owners are not allowed to ask for compensation/money for the dog.

 

[SusanLynn]

The site ― Rescue Me! ― Adopt Dogs, Cats & More ― allows owners to post the dogs they hope to rehome as well as dogs from rescue groups. I don't believe that there is any charge to use the site, but the rescue group or owner can include a rehoming fee to be paid directly by the adopter. In all of the listings I've read, these fees have been relatively low and in line with what rescue groups request. Obviously, one of the big red flags with your proposed site is the charging of fees.

For someone trying to rehome a dog, it is possible to find request groups that will do courtesy posts and sometimes allow the owner to bring the dog to an adoption event. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to find a rescue group that will actually take the dog if the owner is unable or unwilling to continue taking care of it. And that's when a dog ends up being taken to a shelter. I don't see that your proposed site solves this problem.