# Legality of adoption contracts?



## Catahoula (Jul 13, 2011)

There is a very long back story to all of this, but I will try to condense it and provide all relevent information...

I rescued a HW+ dog in January from a high kill shelter. To do this, I had to have a rescue that would be willing to sponsor him. I was able to find one, but they aren't 501c3 registered, so they found a "partner" rescue who is 501c3 that would pull him. The dog had $300 worth of pledges raised, and my personal opinion is they were only willing to help out so they could get the money.

From the get go I knew it wasn't going to be a good situation. The rescue couldn't provide me with anything for the foster such as a crate, bed, bowls, collar/leash, or food. The partner rescue asked for my address and shipped me 90 days worth of doxy as his HW treatment. I live in the state of Florida, where it is illegal for a vet to prescride medication without seeing the dog first, so I have no idea where these pills came from.

Against the advice of a vet, they made me take him in to be neutered with a high HW load. Shortly after surgery he began having all the symptoms of HWs: coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, etc... 

As time went on, I basically lost contact with both rescues. At one point I contacted them to ask about help with anxiety and from then on they labeled him a "bad dog" and wanted to get rid of him. I decided that neither of these rescues cared about him or his best interests. They just wanted him placed anywhere so he wasn't their problem anymore. I couldn't trust them to find a proper home for him and took that on as my mission. I paid his adoption fee, $200 more dollars in their pockets, and went about my business. Shortly after that they made me sign an adoption contract.

Here in lies the problem.... The contract has the normal provisions that if I can no longer keep the dog I have to give the rescue the first opportunity to take him back in. I never planned on keeping him permanently, just find him a good home. The contract also says stuff like if I breach it then I could be held accountable for $500 to the rescue and the costs of legal fees if it gets taken to court.

How binding are these adoption contracts? I'm pretty sure animals are still viewed as property in the state of Florida, so can someone really tell you what you can or can't do with your "property"? Please believe me, I care more about this dog than anyone else in this world and only want the best for him. I'd keep him myself if I were in a better situation, but thought fostering was a good way to help short term (boy was I wrong about that). I just don't want to get in trouble for finding him the right home, when I paid for everything. I paid for his real HW treatment, all his vet care, training, and his food for the past 4.5 months (well over $1000. Thank you tax season). I'm still waiting to get a HW- test result before I rehome him so I know he's healthy, but can the rescue really come after me?

I kept all my reciepts, messages, and paperwork so I can prove I paid for everything for him.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

I'm not sure about legality but if I found out that one of our adopters re-adopted a dog from us, well I would do everything possible to get the dog back. Yes, they do sign a contract that says if they ever need to be free of the dog then they need to contact us. We recently got one of our past rescues back and it has been about 6 yrs. ago that he adopted him from us. So not a young dog for a Bull Terrier but he is in a great home now as the man who adopted him had to be away too much for work.


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## Catahoula (Jul 13, 2011)

whiteleo said:


> I'm not sure about legality but if I found out that one of our adopters re-adopted a dog from us, well I would do everything possible to get the dog back. Yes, they do sign a contract that says if they ever need to be free of the dog then they need to contact us. We recently got one of our past rescues back and it has been about 6 yrs. ago that he adopted him from us. So not a young dog for a Bull Terrier but he is in a great home now as the man who adopted him had to be away too much for work.


Thank you for the feedback. I know most rescues would be very upset to find out a dog hadn't been taken care of as they intended, but I can assure you neither of these rescues cares about him. Whether it was right or wrong, I feel like I did what I had to do to make sure he was safe. If they found out I rehomed him, they'd probably only go after me for the money stipulated in the adoption form.

I hate that there seems to be this unwritten rule that you don't report bad rescues, because at least the dogs are alive and not in kill shelters. I have heard from others that these ladies are not reliable and have put money ahead of the well being of animals under their rescues care. I wish I had known all this before "fostering" for them.

Who would you report bad rescues to anyways? What state department do they answer to?


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

If they are a 501c3 then I would contact the IRS, at least this is a starting point. I would also contact your local animal shelter.


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