What does it cost us to have foster homes and save animals?

Wood Violet wants you to know where your donations are going. Mainly they will be used for our foster families and advertising our adoptable animals. Costs are estimates based on local rescue groups. 

Regular Rescue Costs

Let's suppose a dog or puppy is healthy and all we need to do is pay the fee to get them from a shelter.

• $75 cost to pull from a shelter - this includes (a minimum) spay/neuter, preventive shots, testing for heart worm

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Now, let's say we rescue a dog from the street, stray or not (at a minimum):

• $23 heart worm testing

• $16 rabies shot/tag

• $177 shots/deworming/fecal (for puppies)

• $98-$245 spay/neuter - if not already done

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But it still takes a few weeks on average to get them adopted to their forever home.

So, we're looking at the costs for things like food, grooming, and preventive medications (heart worm and flea/tick). Things you would regularly be buying if you owned this pet only Wood Violet is paying for it!

• $30 average month food and a fun treat or two

• $30-$100 grooming

• $10 average monthly heartworm & flea/tick

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Let's say that the foster of the healthy dog or puppy needs to go out of town. None of their family can care for the dog. Wood Violet foster volunteers are maxed out on their quota of animals at their homes. So the dog or puppy needs to be boarded.

• $30 daily (and some people leave for over 5 days!)

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Even if our really healthy animal gets adopted within 4 weeks, we're still looking at a cost of at least $175. If the animal is otherwise healthy but a breed/species that requires grooming, that adds at least $30 to our bottom line, which takes us to $205 for a healthy dog or puppy who stays with our rescue group only one month!

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Additional Rescue Costs

There are some rather routine things that need done to various animals we take into Wood Violet Animal Rescue Foster Care. These include:

• $100 dental cleaning - for older dogs or younger dogs with chronic conditions

• $175-$350+ heart worm treatment - dependent on whether it's a lightly or strongly positive case of heart worms.

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Extraordinary Costs

It is the very rare, odd and occasion when we get the healthy animal into our foster care program. Animals found as strays and pulled from local shelters don't come with paperwork about their health history and pre-existing conditions. Even animals that are owner-surrendered may have undisclosed illnesses or problems. Most owners don't know how to spot diseases and some may not get routine veterinary care.

Once we take an animal into our foster care, we commit to him/her. This means that we assume not only to routine but also extraordinary costs for treatment required by the animal. Here's a brief listing of some of these conditions/costs rescues can face:

• $2,000 cataract removal - for inherited/juvenile cataracts in young dogs

• $200 cherry eye repair

• $600 hernia repair

• $1,200 pelvic surgery

• $300 heart murmur diagnosis

• $400 infection diagnosis/treatment

Other large veterinary bills for conditions such as cancer, distemper, parvo, severe respiratory viral illness, and assorted advanced diagnostic testing can set us back. Every cent counts!

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We also need marketing materials so we can spread the word about our work so MORE people can see your foster animal and we have the chance of saving more lives! Everything we do is for the animals.

 

We spend an average of $1,200 per foster home, 100% of your donation goes to saving the animals, always.