Fundraising

Many people are unaware of how expensive it is to rescue homeless animals. The rescue I work with routinely pays for vaccinations as well as the cost of the spay/neuter procedure. If you take your pet in to be spayed, it can cost upwards of $450, depending on the size of the pet. Neuters are slightly less, at $250, but expensive nonetheless. When you include the cost of vaccinations, usually around $100 for the full series (rabies, bordetella) and any additional testing/care that the animal will require (provided nothing goes drastically wrong), animals brought into rescue can cost an average of $400 - $600. When you consider that you're paying $350 (or $150 if it's a cat) to adopt this animal, that's a bargain!

Knowing the animal rescue deficit statistics, I was concerned about what this meant for Morris and his procedure. I shopped his story around to see what kind of "good" rates I could get for him. Ultimately, the best I got was $3000 including aftercare. I immediately set about fundraising for Morris. My goal was obviously $3000 so that there would be no impact on the rescue at all. I wasn't sure what my chances were of raising that, but I was willing to try to ensure that Morris would have a pain free life...well, pain free after his recovery.

I posted pictures of Morris' X-ray online and the response I got was overwhelming. Within MINUTES, donations started pouring in. I will never be able to adequately express my gratitude to the people who read Morris' story and believed in him, and believed in me, enough to contribute towards his cause. Within a week of starting to post about him, his surgery was fully funded. Many of the contributors were friends of mine, but there are some I've never met who gave their money to his cause. It was truly amazing and inspires me to continue to work in rescue. And that generosity will ensure Morris has a healthier life and greater adoption prospects.