Why Do We Charge Adoption Fees?
By Kathleen Boshoff
Recently the topic of adoption fees in animal rescue has become the topic of fierce debate in some groups – with some going as far as calling it an illegal practice, others say that it is no better than selling the animals the rescue strives to rehome – so from Cheeky Beaks perspective why don’t we just give birds away for free?
Funding foster care Some birds, like Yoko the Blue-Fronted Amazon (pictured), is more difficult to place because of extensive rehabilitation that is required before he/she is even considered ready to meet potential new families. Yoko was in foster care for about six months. During this time, thousands of Rands were spent on running all sorts of tests at the avian vet as well as on keeping up with food and enrichment supplies.
1.) Veterinary fees – you can rest assured that any bird you adopt from Cheeky Beaks has been assessed by a qualified avian veterinarian, as most of you know, a check-up at an avian vet can cost anything from R300-R600 and although many vets give us rescue discounts, we still need to pay an amount. It is very rare for a bird to be surrendered to us in perfect condition, thus requiring only a quick check-up, often tests are needed, long courses of antibiotics, surgeries, and hormone treatments – one bird can end up costing us thousands of Rands – what this means is thousands of Rands YOU do not have to pay were you to get the bird for free from an acquaintance or a social media contact.
Veterinary fees Mika, a female Eclectus that came into the care of our organisation in 2021, is a prime example of a bird that comes with a high medical bill. She was tested for PBFD (the result is negative) and various organ function checks and x-rays were performed to help eliminate causes for her poor feather condition.
2.) The legal stuff – for us most of this is volunteer-run, but it still takes hours and hours of our time to ensure that every legal step is followed from the moment a bird is surrendered to us to the moment the bird enters his/her new home. We ensure all parties understand what they are agreeing to; this is necessary because you do not want the bird’s previous owner banging on your door claiming you stole their bird.
Legal Processes We make use of legally binding agreements to ensure transparency and the protection of all parties involved. We need everyone to understand exactly what is expected of them and be familiar with the policies of our organisation. The main reason for this is to ensure the best possible outcome for the bird/s – we are responsible for their future and we take our job very seriously. Furthermore, our agreements have been vetted by a registered attorney and are completely above board. Molly (pictured) is a case where we had to rely on legal assistance and refer to our agreements to ensure that she ended up in an ideal home.
3.) We get to save more birds. By paying an adoption fee you allow our organization to continue providing love and care to the thousands of birds in need in South Africa, you feed another beak, you pay for another check up for a bird so badly plucked it’s barely distinguishable as a bird and you make a small dent in the ocean of bills constantly flooding our organization.
You help us help them Spike is a Congo African Grey that was surrendered to our organization with the help of veterinary staff at an animal hospital in Hermanus, Western Cape. He was originally dropped off at the vet clinic in question to be euthanized, because his previous owner was in a tough spot and didn’t know who to turn to for help.
So, in conclusion – you can choose to see adoption fees as ‘buying a rescue animal’ or you can see it as necessary to ensure a fair, legal adoption process and if you still insist on branding the practice as illegal please realise that you are in effect saying that every animal rescue organisation from the SPCA to small rescues like ours are breaking the law as almost all of us charge adoption fees.
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