Auctions of rescues

[socraticmonologue]

This question is asking keepers for their opinions about the hobby and how it is conducted and the optics of that conduct. This question is not at all about MorphMarket or their rules or practices. For purposes of this question, I take an auction to be “the sale of something to a person who is chosen ONLY on the basis of them being the person willing to pay the highest price”.

What do you think about the practice of selling “rescued” or “surrendered” herps via auction (whether online or in-person)?

What do you think the optics (that is, public perception; the view of outsiders) of selling “rescued” or “surrendered” herps via auction are?

Do you think there is any difference if the seller of “rescued/surrendered” herps is a 501(c)(3) non profit, as compared to a regular person who took in an animal that needed care?

Do you think there is any difference if transferring ownership of “rescued/surrendered” herps through auction is an isolated instance, compared to being a recurring practice of such a “rescue” operation?

Would you surrender a herp to a person/organization who would consider auctioning off the animal to the highest bidder?

[cmsreptiles]

This is my personal opinion on the matter…

@socraticmonologue

Would you surrender a herp to a person/organization who would consider auctioning off the animal to the highest bidder?

No. Absolutely not.

Any animal I deem necessary to surrender rather than sell is an animal I’ve deemed unfit to be under random ownership, meaning it is solely “Pet-Only”. I very, very carefully choose who “Pet-Only” animals get to go to, to ensure they are 1. Not bred, and 2. Properly taken care of if they have special needs…

The “Highest bidder” wouldn’t sway me in that belief.

Putting the animal on auction completely defeats the purpose of selectively choosing a suitable home.

@socraticmonologue

transferring ownership of “rescued/surrendered” herps through auction is an isolated instance, compared to being a recurring practice of such a “rescue” operation?

I honestly don’t have enough knowledge of how often this occurs in rescues to answer… but in my opinion Rescues/Shelters should not be auctioning animals. Even if it is to the benefit of funding the rescue… The reason being that you can’t really familiarize yourself with anonymous bidders to ensure your rescued animal is going to a good home…

@socraticmonologue

Do you think there is any difference if the seller of “rescued/surrendered” herps is a 501(c)(3) non profit, as compared to a regular person who took in an animal that needed care?

Fundamentally, no.

@socraticmonologue

What do you think the optics (that is, public perception; the view of outsiders) of selling “rescued” or “surrendered” herps via auction are?

I hope that the general public would have at least a little bit of an idea that auctioning surrendered/rescued animals is a risk to the animal.