Are you struggling with rehoming at the moment can i ask please?. I have had enquiries from rabbitrehome but none have followed through with adopting.
on here, rabbit rehome, our website and the national RSPCA site. Thats all for most of our rabbits.
I can't help but wonder if your adoption fee is set a bit too high - so people may make an initial enquiry but then get a bun from a different rescue with a fee that most might consider more usual? I don't know whether the fact that you're set up as a ltd co rather than a charity might also be an influence - especially when coupled with a high adoption fee. I might be wrong, but it's certainly something that would cross my mind if I was looking to adopt.
I can't help but wonder if your adoption fee is set a bit too high - so people may make an initial enquiry but then get a bun from a different rescue with a fee that most might consider more usual? I don't know whether the fact that you're set up as a ltd co rather than a charity might also be an influence - especially when coupled with a high adoption fee. I might be wrong, but it's certainly something that would cross my mind if I was looking to adopt.
We also rehome a fair few bunnies from word of mouth I must say Rabbit rehome and our website/National website are our main ways of advertising, posters in vets/local shops don't tend to work sadly
Where have you advertised so far? What is your suggested adoption fee? Edited to add, we ask for a suggested adoption fee of £40 for a rabbit. All rabbits are neutered and vaccinated against Myxo and VHD, our adoption fee doesn't even cover the neutering xx
Thanks for the insight. The veterinary costs are quite high here so it costs us more than £65.00 per rabbit to do all the required vaccinations, neutering etc,healthchecks and surgeries etc- i.e if a dental.
Would £50 be a more reasonable rehoming fee, i've noticed other rescues rehoming at around this?
We are setup as a charity non profit, but just as a limited by guarantee also. The constitution will be changing shortly to reflect our aims more accurately however. Perhaps i should leave out the Ltd when rehoming.
Just curious, but what are you asking then Ambience?
We ask £50 for a rabbit that is neutered and vacc'd for both Myxo and VHD. If we get more we are incredibly grateful but don't usually.
You can't expect to cover your costs with adoption fees either - just goes a bit towards it.
Thanks for the insight. The veterinary costs are quite high here so it costs us more than £65.00 per rabbit to do all the required vaccinations, neutering etc,healthchecks and surgeries etc- i.e if a dental.
Would £50 be a more reasonable rehoming fee, i've noticed other rescues rehoming at around this?
We are setup as a charity non profit, but just as a limited by guarantee also. The constitution will be changing shortly to reflect our aims more accurately however. Perhaps i should leave out the Ltd when rehoming.
When an animal comes in i'm not charging anything currently. I ask for an adoption fee of £65.00 per rabbit that covers mixi, vhd, healthchecks, any dentals.
The £65.00 doesn't cover costs though. I would prefer to reduce adoption fees if it meant rehoming out more quickly and making space for new buns in need.
I think perhaps the recent request for 6x2x2 accomadation with a 6x4 run was the thing that put off a lady recently. She was fine about the amounts as far as i was aware.
I'm not sure how much of this matters to most people when looking for a rescue animal, I know it wouldn't matter to me (if I even understood the implications of it), what would matter would be how you operate ie I wouldn't get an animal from these places that masquerades as a rescue but does a bit of breeding for the fun of it "to fund the rescue". People don't know much about you, maybe that's part of it.
I don't know how much the rehoming fee matters, Bunny Camp is the nearest to you that I know of and they have fees of £65 for a doe, £55 for a buck. The rehoming fee includes castration/spaying, VHD and Myxi jabs.
When an animal comes in i'm not charging anything currently. I ask for an adoption fee of £65.00 per rabbit that covers mixi, vhd, healthchecks, any dentals.
The £65.00 doesn't cover costs though. I would prefer to reduce adoption fees if it meant rehoming out more quickly and making space for new buns in need.
I think perhaps the recent request for 6x2x2 accomadation with a 6x4 run was the thing that put off a lady recently. She was fine about the amounts as far as i was aware.
I don't know of any rescue that 'charges' for rabbits coming in. You are lucky if you get a donation.
Re the accommodation - it shouldn't matter if it puts them off - you need to consider the rabbits and not whether the new home thinks this is too much to ask. If it's too much to ask, then they don't understand what rabbits need.
The right home will come along for the right rabbit in time, sometimes quite quickly and sometimes it takes a bit longer, but you have really to remember that you are educating the new owners (something they don't get from pet shops or breeders) so if you don't stick to your guns, then what chance do the rabbits have?
It is hard at first thinking is this home better than no home, but in my humble opnion, you should seek the best home possible for every rabbit.
Helen
Unfortunately the adoption fee never comes close to the real "turn around" cost.
When we adopted out our fees were £40 for a single or £70 for a pair (neutered/vacc'd) which came nowhere near the true cost.
A lot of people are put off by accommodation requirements, but as Duchess says, if they can't meet minimum requirements they're not the right people anyways.
Okay i'll put it down to the people then rather than our requirements. I wouldn't be prepared to reduce the accomadation requirements as to me 6x2x2 with a 6x4 run attached or equivilent square foot is just adequete for now.
I kind of expected someone coming through a rehoming site to be aware of the rescue requirements in terms of accomadation sizes.