I also found at first the fees to adopt quite high. But after having raised a couple of litters of pups I can tell you the vet fees add up fast, even with "bulk" discounts. Not to mention part of the fee is also used to pay the admin costs, food, heat, people to take care & clean, walk the animals, etc, etc, etc.

I'm not sure this is unusual though. My brother adopted two rescue dogs in the US and they were almost $400 each dog.

Some dogs also end up in the rescue because their owners go into care homes. Many of these homes don't allow dogs, which breaks my heart as the person is miserable without their dog and the dogs are often older and no one wants them.

There is a SPA in the Valais that is on the verge of going bankrupt due to a/ huge rise in vet and other costs recently b/ the huge rise in dogs being abandoned on the flimsiest of excuses.

BTW there is a big legal wrangle going on in Romandie at the moment. A multi-millionaire left all his money to be shared with all the official SPAs in Romandie, but the executor decided to just choose a handful and share the money between them- leaving the rest with nothing - which is of course being currently challenged in the courts.