I've heard lots of cases of rescue's vets opening up bitches only to find they were already spayed. It's hard to tell as the scars can fade very well, and even if there is a scar, this could be a cesarian scar if the bitch had been bred from previously & she may have been left unspayed.
I believe you can have an ultrasound done to look internally but don't imagine these are that cheap - it would certainly be added costs to rescues so I can see why some would rehome on the basis that the bitch is to be spayed if she does come into season.

I think the way for animal rescues to avoid any ambuguity, when using the word "donation" - "minimum" should be put in front of it. I have always thought that the donation amount was the minimum the shelter was asking - to cover costs incurred with the individual rescue dog and to help with their running costs and enable the rescue to continue.

In answer to the original question, no I don't think they "charge" too much and if the dog is returned for any reason the "minimum donation" should and will be non-refundable - because after all it is a "donation". Perhaps that is why they use the word instead of charge.

Thanks, I think you're right. I wasn't sure of the right term. Looks like I've only been to pounds then as neither of my dogs came with accessories as in collar, leads, had been wormed or flead, no insurance or food.

I didn't choose pounds specifically, just they are accessible to me. I don't have a car so rely on public transport.

If the rescues rely on the money, then why not just give the dog for the amount they are charging/or you are donating. What's the point of giving free collars, leads, pet plan insurance, food, or any of the rest of it, surely that's up to the owner to get. Okay so everyone is getting a bargain but it's costing the rescues money to give all that stuff away.

They could always give a rough breakdown of costs. eg
dog £30
neutering £150/250 or whatever it costs in their area
dog food for 2 weeks £15 or whatever
collar £5
vets bills whilst in the kennels.

Then if they are rehoming the dog for much cheaper than it's cost them, which they do, people could see the bargain they were getting but personally I think giving free collars and leads and things is not necessary especially when it's costing the rescues money.

I bought all that stuff before I got Lana, although as the pound brought her to me she did have a collar and lead, the one she had when taken to the police station originally.

That might be a good idea for the rescues to itemise what each dogs has cost them ~ it might open peoples' eyes to the bargain they are getting. Or even just the average costs of neutering, flea/worm treatment, vaccinations, food costs for a week etc. And then point out that on top of that they have the other overhead costs of staff wages, heating & utilities, rent etc etc. That puts the £70 t0 £110 that someone pays for a dog into perspective

As for doing away with providing collars, leads, free food & 6 weeks insurance, I'm not sure that these are huge costs to the big national charities like the Dogs Trust & RSPCA. They probably order colars & leads in such vast quantities, specially manufactured with their own logos, that the cost per unit is relatively small. Likewise I expect that the free food & insurance are paid for , or at least heavily subsidised by the pet food manufacturer & insurance company, so I doubt that the Dogs Trust has to meet the full costs.

But I fully appreciate that smaller rescues can't & maybe shouldn't try, to provide all these "extras".

I've not heard of rescues giving away loads of freebies. Casper came with a collar but it was just a basic nylon one - I suppose the rescue then at least know that he's got a properly fitted, secure collar with some kind of ID (they put their own "I'm chipped" tag on). They recommended and sold the fold he was on, so I think I ended up buying a bag off him at the time, but it wasn't a freebie. My mum got given a kilo or two of food with her recently adopted pup but this was stamped with advertising and "Donated to [rescue]" written on it, so that's the manufacturer donating food to the rescue in the hopes new adopters will continue to buy it. Ditto to the ones I've seen that provide insurance, I'm sure the insurance companies offer this in the hope of new customers, rather than rescues needlessly spending money on these things.

When I went and picked up Daisy (unspayed, unchipped, not yet checked or assessed) I walked out past a long line of kennels full of beautiful, needy dogs. Some had been there a long long time. My donation was not for my precious girl, it was to help the Rescue (Vigil) carry on their work.
I didn`t buy a dog - I gave a dog a home and gave the Rescue some money they needed to continue their work.

As most rescues are charities they can Giftaid the "donations" I'm not sure that would work with a "charge".

Thats a good point Maxine

Yes, very good point ~ but the person making the "donation" has to sign something to say it is a gift & that they are a UK taxpayer ~ I'll have to look at the Dogs Trust paperwork to see what I signed!

Most greyhound rescues want people to use a properly fitted hound collar/lead and muzzle for safety so opt to include it in the adoption fee. They sometimes have various other extras which I guess might be due to competition as adopters have such a wide choice of places to get a greyhound from.

It wouldn't bothered me if they hadn't included the extra bits, i'd of still thought it was good value, but for some i can imagine those small things do help a lot.