I would like to say thank you to all of those who donated to our Medical Monday. We truly appreciate all the help you gave us in trying to catch up on our medical bills. Every dollar does really count for us! However, on the same note I would also like to address how disappointed I was in some of the comments we received in regards to some of the bills we had showed as payments we have been making to our vets and I would like to address some of those negative comments in regards to our vets. First of all, I think we use some of the best vets in the southeast Detroit area. All are very reasonable in price and many work with our rescue not only in discounting us, they also use donate products whenever available to help save us money, have done things free of charge and have even taken on animals for free for us. Most will work with accepting payments from us as well. In fact our vet of record we refer to most of our outreach people to, because he is one of the most affordable vets in the area for the low income families we assist. I also think about the cost that Dr. Ruland incurred to care for Momma Kohl and her babies and then to read such negative comments about what are vets are charging us really upset me. No other vet I know in the area would have done what Dr. Ruland had done for Momma Kohl or her babies, or has done for our many other animals, and then eat the cost as often as she has done so many times in the past. The many animals that we could not afford to help hospitalize with parvo recently for owned pets that Dr. Hermann has saved with in home treatment at very little cost. The things that our supporters dont see that he has done for a shelter in the area that has little to no budget to vet the animals there, that he often treats for free because they have no money to spend from the counties budgets given to care for the animals there. I think about all the wonderful things both of these doctors have done for so many animals, I was in tears seeing so many people attacking our vets for the cost of care of our animals. Which is why I need to explain to all of you, this is the costs of running a rescue organization and outreach program. Although many do not want to look at it as a business, it is in fact a business that has many bills attached to it. 80 plus animals in our care that are up for adoption, many that come to us off the streets with major health issues that all deserve a second chance at life if they can be saved. Some are given up old and frail, some are off the streets dying from diseases that are preventable, some are abused or neglected and everyone of them normally cost us much, much more then the typical adoption fee we ask when they are adopted out. Yet it always seems like the same supporters are the ones who are always pitching in to help and all the people yelling about the cost of care for these animals as if we do not shop around for the best prices, when in fact we are working with the most supportive vets we could ever find! Are you the people donating to help these animals and are you looking at the big picture of how many animals we are caring for at one time? All of them needing medical care that we may have not had all the funds for to treat? We do fundraisers all the time to help make up the cost. However, we do not want to shove fundraisers down our supporter throats all the time and some fundraisers we have had, are not always successful with attendance. I want those who were so negative to know that it isnt the amount that is being charged to us, it is the amount of animals we are caring for that makes these bills so darn high. We pride ourselves in giving our animals all of the proper vet care they need, when they need it. We do not skimp on providing not only the necessaries for our animals such as heartworm medication, flea and tick medications, blood work if necessary, stool samples, deworming, spay and neuters, vaccines, food, training to make them adoptable, crates, toys, and often a roof over their heads in boarding because of the lack of foster homes. If you add all of this up, especially for the bully breeds who may be with us long term, or the special needs animals that require even more care, this all adds up. This doesnt include the owned pets that we get tons of calls a week on that we are now having to turn away because the funds are not here to help them. It hurts us to have someone on the other end of the phone crying because their animal is dying and we do not have the means to help them. It isnt about what our vets are charging, it is about having more animals that need care then there is funding available to help them all. For those of you who think we do not shop around for good prices, we absolutely do! It is a case by case basis on how quickly that animal needs care and if we have time to shop around or do they go directly to emergency. For those who do not go to emergency, we do look for the best prices possible. Yet, we seem to end up back at the vets we always use, who typically give us not only the best price and work with us, but also the best and most sensitive care to our animals we take in. Also please keep in mind, we are a NO KILL rescue. Unlike some shelters that will euthanize because of the cost of care, we will bend over backwards to save the animals that come our way. Believing they all deserve a chance to live if we can help them and cost should not be a deciding factor as to ones life. Which is another reason why we use some of the same vets always. They have the same philosophy as we do when not being so quick to euthanize our animals over cost of care, and believe it should be based on quality of life left. I am sorry that many of the people complaining about our bills do not feeling the same as we do about saving the lives of the animals that come to us. To those of you who support our efforts and believe in the same philosophy as we do, that they are all worth saving, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your continued support and trusting our judgement on how we care for our animals that need us.
Posted on: Wed, 22 Oct 2014 15:35:47 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015