Fee's for latest HSI dogs

I agree Connie. The pricing seems to be so random. It's really sad.

It is still awfully high, but maybe all the noise we've made about the $450 price tags has gotten someone's attention, y'think?

I'd like to think that were true, but I'm a little more pessimistic than that.

You'd think that HSI would stick with their previous pricing scheme of $95 for adult dogs and whatever it was for puppies ($150?). It would increase the adoptions. I'm sure the increase in price is stated to cover the "increased costs" of the animals, etc, etc, but knowing that I could have spent $95 on the same animal a year ago and am spending a random amount now, I'd rather go with another organization.

It was $95 for large adult (6mo and up) dogs and $120 for puppies and small dogs. Cats used to be $120 for kittens under 6mo, $65 for adults and $50 for seniors (over 7yrs). Was so much easier to remember that way... fewer typos on cage cards too.

I don't understand the random prices either. I wonder if they're calculating how much money they have put into the animal (medical costs), or if they're just being priced according to what they think they can get for them. It looks like there are several purebreds in your list too. It seems those dogs should be placed in breed rescue, if there are any available spots. I really would like to support HSI. It would help me greatly if I could understand these prices, the negative stories I've heard from a few breed rescues, and the high salary of the director (that may be an industry standard, not sure). I need to do some research and write a few letters.

I think someone just pulls these costs out of their arses and puts them up. Stacy, if you find out why the variances in the prices, I'm interested to know.

It does look like the pricing system has totally gone random...what a mess. I don't understand why the St. B is so high, considering that dog is almost middled aged for that breed. I'm surprised the Maltese isn't $300-$400???? Hah.

Kris, I think that's where the pricing methodology comes from as well. And don't forget that these are dogs that are being housed in shelters. The woman who is interested in Farrah went to HSI and said the people there could give her NO information about the habits of a dog they were considering, whether or not it was housebroken, good with kids, etc. And didn't appear inclined to find out. If you ask me, getting a dog from a rescue organization that fosters in homes is a much better way to know what you're getting without having to pay some kind of crazy quilt scheme of pricing. Yes, you can return them to HSI if things don't work out, but all that stuff needs to be dealt with on the front end, not the back end. Oh yeah, that's where we started...the back end. Where pricing gets pulled out of.

I just emailed the board and asked about this. I asked about high adoption fees, random adoption fees and why there were purebreds in the shelter (as opposed to going into rescue). I'll let you know when I get a response! I really should do some work now! ;)