Animal shelters work hard every day to find dogs and cats forever homes. There are certain dog breeds with a bad reputation, and are considered high risk. Animal adoptions always come with fees, and some shelters have considered raising the adoption fees for high risk breeds. Is that a good idea? Here are the pros and cons of raising adoption rates for high risk dog breeds.
Pros.
Some high risk breeds like Pit bulls, Rottweiler’s, and Doberman Pinschers are all breeds of dogs that are used and abused by their heartless owners. Some train them as guard dogs, while others train them for dog fights. A lot of dogs in these breeds can thrive in a loving home, and are also known for having a sweet temperament to their owners. A higher adoption fee may deter some bad people from taking and ruining these dogs. It can also serve as a deterrent for families unaware of the liabilities attached to these breeds.
Cons.
There are over 78 million owned dogs in the United States, and only 20 percent of them are adopted from shelters. If shelters are serious about increasing animal adoptions, they shouldn’t discriminate by breed. While breeds of dogs like Pit bulls have a negative reputation, they are more docile than other seemingly harmless breeds of dogs, like Chihuahuas. Every dog no matter their reputation deserves the chance to be adopted into a loving home. Having higher adoption fees will make them even less desirable than before.
Animal adoptions are of the utmost importance for any shelter. That is why raising adoption fees for high risk breeds seem against their best interests. It will discourage adoptions for certain breeds, and lower adoption rates as a whole. However, educating potential owners of the liabilities involved with high risk breeds is important too. While educating future owners of high risk breeds is important, having a dog’s best interest at heart should be the utmost importance, because that is the shelters’ goal in the first place.