When we tell someone we transport pets, or we're pet transporters we get one of two reactions. The first is is "WOW, what a great job". Then they go on to tell us that they have never heard of such an a thing, In the grand scheme of occupations, this is relatively new field.
Because of that we've had the privilege and sometimes nightmare of setting the standard on how we want our business to operate. As with any business there is a perceived notion of what our business entails.
For most when we tell them what we do they instantly think, AAH! cute puppies, and driving around the country seeing the great sights.
What we're really doing is cleaning up after puppies, listening to cats meow at 2 am, dealing with stressed, gassy dogs, tight deadlines, traffic, LOTS OF TRAFFIC, ignorant drivers, stressed clients. That is just to name a few issues. Once a driver leaves their residence they are committed for two weeks of service, minimum. That is two weeks of being away from family, friends, and off time. Once the first pet gets on the vehicle that driver is on "Duty" until the last pet gets off. Image yourself having to work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for two weeks. Yea, that's it. Most people have a cramp thinking about it.
A person really has to love the pets, and understand we are working with a living, breathing being. We also have to realize that the pets we are transporting start out scared and confused. Well some do, others think its vacation time.
Then we have the second type of people's reaction when we tell them we're "pet transporters". "OH!, you transport for rescues." We explain no we don't transport for rescues. Then we get that disapproving look, and some are even brazen enough to tell us how wrong we are to charge for such a thing. We don't have a right to get paid for doing what we love to do.
Well it's time now we need to address this. 99.9% of the people that call us with regards to rescues have other jobs. They work 9-5, 7-11 or whatever their shift is. At the end of the pay cycle they get a check, big or small, it is still a check to pay their rent, mortgage, car payments, feed their children. You get what I mean.
We are expected to drive this country, in all weather conditions, listen to people cussing us out because we're "NOT GOING FAST ENOUGH" on the interstate, provide our own personal vehicle, pay all the fuel, food, motel, personal care. Then not get paid to do it. Because they do "rescues on the weekend, and they don't understand why its SO EXPENSIVE to move a pet.
Well, lets start with the insurance, all 4 policies we have to carry. Then there is the license we have to maintain, vehicles that have to be serviced every two weeks. Driving, 3000 miles a week puts a real strain on the vehicles. So at the minimum, its an oil change and some of these vehicles a simple oil change is over $100. That doesn't speak to replacing larger, more expensive parts. Think of it this way, if you walk out to your car and it doesn't start or you drop a transmission, the mechanic hands you a bill for $1500-$3000. Where does that money come from. Because of the miles traveled in a week the odds of us having an major component break is a lot greater. Don't forget, vehicles don't run forever. At some point these vehicles have to be replaced. Everyone wants their pet traveling in a beautiful vehicle, starting price for one of those beautiful vehicles is $20,000. That is a stripped out version. Some of these custom vehicles run in upward of $80,000. Sorry, they still can only travel the same amount of miles as any other vehicle.
That just covers some of the business end expenses, doesn't cover the office expenses. Nor does it begin to cover wages. Lets face it if we're driving 12 hours a day, for 14 days, when do we have time to do another job to cover our home expenses. We don't live in our vehicles during our down time.
We all have families, and lives outside of transporting pets. Don't get me wrong, we love what we do, We've made a conscious decision to make the sacrifices we do. This is an attempt to explain, why the quote you get is so expensive or why we cannot do free rescues all the time.
We have made an effort to work withe very situation what is presented to us. So we set a structure for Rescues vs, Adoptions.
A true rescue is a pet coming directly off the street or out of a no kill shelter. Because the chance of disease and/or injury, we have to go into these with no other pets on the vehicle. The vehicle must then be sent directly home for cleaning and sterilizing. We try to do a few of these a year, but we cannot help everyone that ask.
Adoption is a new pet parent, adopting the pet from a shelter or foster home, going to a forever home. Asking a driver to transport the pet for free or next to nothing is asking that driver to give up their paycheck that puts on the table, pay their rent, etc.
We try to do what we can throughout the year. But we cannot help everyone or we would have to stop transporting. Just don't have that money tree in the back yard. Its this a rant, possibility, but we want you to understand that the perception of transporting pets is a whole lot different then the reality.
