️️⭐️⭐️PLEASE READ PRIOR TO APPLYING TO ADOPT A FRENCH OR ENGLISH BULLDOG️️⭐️⭐️

 

THIS IS REGARDING ADOPTION FEES AND WHY THEY ARE SET HIGHER THAN OTHER DOGS. 

 

Most of our puppies come to us at just a few hours old. They are born with cleft lips or cleft palates and are unable to nurse on the mama dog, resulting in either euthanasia at the request of the owner, or the owner allowing the vets office to surrender the pup to a rescue. There are not many rescues that take in cleftie  pups. One reason is that it’s not easy. It’s not easy physically as they have to be tube fed every few hours. This means many nights of interrupted sleep, and zero chance at any time off once you have a pup. 

It’s not easy mentally because only about half of them survive. The often times overwhelming sadness associated with constantly losing pups is not something most can handle. It is not easy to hold a pup while it passes over. Now imagine having to do that sometimes on a weekly basis. It takes a toll on you that many cannot begin to comprehend. 

 

We have anywhere from 1-8 cleftie pups in our home at any given time. We do not get time off. We do not get vacations. We do not get a break. It’s a full-time job, and it’s not an easy one. MOST of the clefties we get are French Bulldogs. This is because people are breeding them at an alarming rate, with no end in sight. They are NOT willing to spay or neuter the adults. They will continue breeding regardless if we take the pups or not. 

So we choose life. We choose to give them a chance. And we get to decide who adopts the precious few who make it. ❤️

 

This cleft palate rescue “side gig” is IN ADDITION TO the pit bull part of the rescue- which is the MAIN part of the rescue work that we do. We pull dogs from local shelters that would otherwise be euthanized due to an injury, kennel stress, or extreme fearfulness. We do not take on the easy dogs. We do not cherry pick the highly adoptable dogs. We take the dogs that nobody else is coming for. The dogs that would otherwise not make it out of the shelter alive. 

 

Most of the dogs that we pull are major medical dogs whose injuries are life threatening. Dogs needing an amputation or a fracture repaired. Dogs needing a rectal prolapse fixed. Or a torn ACL repaired. Sometimes we just pull permanently “broken” dogs, like senior blind dogs, or hospice cases. If you’ve followed us for a while, you’ve gotten to see the hundreds of success stories over the years about our dogs that needed a miracle, and got one each time thanks to the generosity of the donors on our page.  

 

But our medical bills are not always posted, and donations are not always raised for many of our dogs in need. 

Like the found dog that we recently helped to get neutered and when he was heart worm tested and SURPRISE!, he’s heart worm positive. That’s $3,000 we didn’t count on. Or the dog that someone surrendered to the vet’s office for euthanasia because it needed surgery, so we find it a foster home and cover the vet bills. Half the time we just don’t have time to post about those cases. We just take them in and they’re available for adoption a month or so later. Or the dozens of times the procedures needed are smaller and not necessary to post about, but those costs still add up regardless. An average month for us to run the rescue is around $20,000 in medical bills. A busy month is closer to $30,000. 

 

We also have a hefty bill every month to cover our dogs in boarding. I don’t know of any other rescues pulling dogs from shelters and placing them into boarding while looking for foster homes for them. The cost to board a dog is $750/month. We have anywhere from 1-4 dogs there at any given time. That bill ranges from $750-$3,000 a month. We hardly ever raise funds for boarding costs. And when we post asking for help, the donations that come in do not cover even a fraction of the cost. 

 

The other bulldogs that come into our rescue as adults come to us from shelters who KNOW that we will find the most suitable and appropriate homes imaginable for these dogs. Because they know that bulldogs NEED homes that can afford their ongoing care, and they entrust us to find those homes. They often times give us an “easy” dog because of all of the much more difficult cases we’ve taken on in the past-as a way of saying thank you. 

 

IF we were only taking on French Bulldogs and English Bulldogs as owner surrenders, and not doing any of the other many facets of rescue work that we are doing, then I would understand the criticism about our adoption fees. I would understand the frustration from those in the rescue community who’ve expressed displeasure regarding our fees. 

But we are doing SO MUCH heavy lifting! We are doing the hard work! These fees go to cover medical bills for the month. And they go to cover boarding costs. These adoption fees help to keep all other parts of our rescue functioning. 

 

But that isn’t the ONLY reason our fees for these dogs are higher. The MAIN reason is because not everyone should own one. They are literally THE MOST EXPENSIVE dog breeds you can own. Just because someone “wants” a Frenchie doesn’t mean they should own one, or are financially stable  enough TO own one. 

 

And I know that’s going to make some people angry. But I have to ask… what happens when your dog needs IVDD surgery and you have to come up with $10,000 in 48 hours for surgery, or else your dog may never walk again? IVDD is so incredibly common right now (if you don’t know what it is please Google it), and most bulldog owners have no idea how easy it is for their dog to get injured! Even if you have insurance, you still need to have a nest egg. Pet insurance doesn’t cover everything, and you still need the money up front to cover the vet bills. Insurance only reimburses you, and many times does not cover all of the charges. 

 

If one of our adopted dogs needs surgery, we want the adopter to be able to afford that cost. We do not want one of our previous dogs coming back to us paralyzed because the adopter couldn’t afford the surgery. That’s not fair to the dog. Or to us. 

We want them going to their FOREVER home, not their “until we can no longer afford them” home. 

 

So how much is the adoption fee?

We charge $1000 and up for adult bulldogs. And we charge $1,500 and up for puppies.

(There is some fluctuation in adoption fees from time to time depending on the dog.)

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All of our dogs are spayed or neutered, microchipped, and fully vaccinated prior to being adopted out. 

If you have PURCHASED a bulldog, you know that our adoption fees are actually incredibly reasonable, especially considering the cost associated with fully vetting them. Spays and neuters for bulldogs run around $500. 

 

If that adoption fee is shocking to you, there are more than enough BEAUTIFUL dogs available on our website whose adoption fees are $300. Many of them have been overlooked for far too long, and are desperately waiting for a great home. PLEASE consider adopting one of them. ❤️

 

If you are looking to adopt a bulldog, and you would like to know more about the ones we currently have available, please shoot us a message!! We’d love to chat! 

(Please note that you must live in the Sacramento area.)