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My Second Dog was........FREE..... And I loved him beyond measure. He traveled with me as I moved all over the U.S. I payed pet deposites on rental houses... I spent thousands of dollars on vets when he got a rare disease. He went on dates with me.. he went to work with me... he slept by my bed, ate the best of foods... was the envy of many who stopped to say how cool he was... And I thought my heart would never ever mend when he died at age 14.My Third Dog was.... NOT FREE....I paid $20 for him and I loved him... played with him... fed him the best foods.. paid his vet bills... he slept by the bed, kept me company on long walks... and I cried till I could cry no more when he passed away at 13.My Fourth Dog was.....FREE... I picked him up lost and abandoned on the side of the freeway... I didn't need or particularly want a second dog at the time.... But I loved him... played with him.. fed him the best foods.. Paid for veterinary care and later when he had severe arthitis, spent many hundreds on suppliments to keep him comfortable till I had to have him laid to rest at 14. And I cried... and thanked God for the stranger that came to stay with us for so many years.My Fifth Dog ... My CURRENT Dog... was..... NOT FREE..... I paid $80 for him... And I love him.. and I play with him.. and I pay the vet when he needs it.. and he sleeps by my bed, and he gets the best of foods, and he follows me everywhere and I hope that we will get to love him for many more years until it's time for him to pass on and we will cry and our hearts will break and we will miss him.Somewhere in this short story of my life with dogs... And I could easily write another much longer story about my life with many, many horses... some free.. some rescued.. some paid a small price for and some paid a high price for... Somewhere in the stories... I hope is a lesson.Every animal in my care... for whatever reason it came and at whatever cost.... Got the same kind of care. They got the BEST care I could give... and sometimes... because of sacrifice.. they got better care than prudently affordable or necessary. Did it matter the price I paid for them?.... IT DID NOT!..... Nor will it ever. And I seriously doubt it matters in many other homes across the world... People either value their pets or they don't... I have seen just as many neglected pets and livestock come from "rich" homes as I have poor.It is not the money that takes care of an animal... It is the heart of the people or person they live with. The poorest person will find a way if they love enough.If you ask me... charging a high fee to "ensure a good home", is just a lazy persons way out of not feeling guilty for the fact that they do not want to take enough time to find out if the home they are selling their pet to is adequate. It's a lot easier to take someones money and tell yourself that you did the right thing, than it is to take the time to get to know someone, or to go look at their home.. or to draw up an agreement on their care with a return clause, to get references and to follow up with checks over the next days, weeks and months.To take this argument to the ridiculous.... One of my children was born when we had really great insurance and guess what?... She was ... FREE!..... My Second child, we didn't have good insurance.... She cost... ALOT!!!... I wonder if we are less of a good home for the first one?.... Maybe I should love the second one a bit more since she cost so much?...This is long... but hopefully the message is clear.... Money can buy a lot of things... and certainly you should ask prospective homes if they can afford the upkeep of a pet... even go as far as to list out some of the expenses....But take the time to make sure you are finding a good home... don't use making money as a cop-out to get out of your responsibilities.You may find... that the most loving thing you can do for your pet is to place him in a home for.... Free...I will give you a flip side to the situation... when you need to rehome your pet... when you are "desperately seeking good home asap"... Letting someone "rescue" you from your situation... can give them a sense of pride for doing something good for both animal and human... that is a value that is much greater than money and may in the end go the farthest towards giving your pet a great life.Thank you for reading this.. I hope it is taken in good spirit and gives another point of view on the subject of "rehoming fees"... God Bless