I need to rehome some of my pet birds (I’m chronically ill and can’t care for them well) and I want to be able to make a new owner sign a legally binding contract that stipulates that they are not permitted to sell or give the bird to anyone but me and that I am permitted to take the bird back at any time for any reason (I wouldn’t do so unless it was in the bird’s best interest but I don’t want to have to fight them on it).
I also want to be able to prevent them from using the bird for breeding (although I suppose that would fall under the second condition about being able to take the bird back at my discretion).
Can I do this without consulting a lawyer? How? I live in Maryland (with my busy parents and would prefer not to cost them the time and money).
It sounds like you don’t want to sell the birds, but to lease them for indefinite period. I understand your wanting to protect the birds, but several of your conditions are inconsistent with sale as it’s normally understood.
We adopted our cat from a private charity that made us sign something similar. In fact it had other clauses, which were kinda dodgy IMO, such as one clause that said they could come and inspect our home and make sure we weren’t mistreating him but seeing as the charity basically consisted one quite pleasant old lady, I wasn’t too worried about signing it (and we’ve not heard from her since, and that was several years ago).
I wondered at the time if any of it could have held up in court or not. My gut feeling was it wouldn’t have, but INAL.
When we adopted our corgis, we signed papers that stated if we could no longer care for them, we were obligated to notify the rescue organization so the dogs could be placed in new homes. It never occurred to us that those papers were not legally binding and we would never dream of letting anyone else have our dogs but the people most qualified to find homes for them. Our family knows that, if we die together in an accident, they are to call corgi rescue. Corgi rescue may offer them the dogs, but it is not the family’s decision to just keep them.
When I helped with greyhound adoption, we had a contract that is almost exactly what you’re talking about. We reserved the right to take the dogs back at any time, and for any reason. Breeding was not allowed (the dogs were fixed, so it wasn’t likely to happen), cloning, racing, etc. We also retained the right to visit the dogs at any time in order to check on their welfare.
We did actually go to court one time over it. We had received an annonymous tip that a greyhound was being kept outside (in the winter). Even though we live in the generally mild NW, the weather in the winter is still too cold for these dogs. We went one day while the owner wasn’t home, trespassed onto the property and took the dog.
After we called the owner and let them know what happened, the police came to visit. They allowed us to keep the dog (posession really is 9/10ths of the law!) untill the judge ruled.
We won, but it was long and costly for a non-profit.
Let me see if I can find a copy of the contract.
I believe you may be talking about a clause common to reputable animal sales contracts: right of first refusal. IANAL but as I understand it the specifics of the terms can vary. In animal purchases, the right of first refusal indicates that the seller is willing to cope with return of the animal rather than see it handed over to, say, a shelter if the new owners are unable or unwilling to carry on. We got our border collie from a breeder who had gotten her back under right of first refusal when a family split up and couldn’t decide where she went. Their loss, very much my gain. Dumbasses.
I really do understand your desire to personally make sure they go to a good home.
AND:
Have you considered letting a bird rescue group do this for you? They will probably vett the new owners more throughly than you could hope to, probably have a contract like you propose that a real lawyer worked out for them, and could deal with whatever happens down the road even if your health should become even worse.
This is a common stipulation in sale contracts for pure-bred animals and in rescue operations. I don’t have time to google this morning (and I have poor google-fu anyway), but you could probably find lots of sample language for such contracts on the internet (think dogs).
As far as I know, these type of contracts are as binding as any other. Both parties sign and if one party doesn’t keep the contract the other party can take them to court (if they are willing to go through the hassle). A good lawyer could probably find all sorts of holes, but again – hassle and cost.
IIRC, we had to sign something like that when we adopted our guinea pigs from a rescue group. Not “take them back at any time for any reason” but it did contain clauses saying we needed to offer them back to the rescue if we couldn’t keep them, and that they wanted the right to inspect their living quarters if they chose (they have never done so).
I don’t know how legally binding it is - presumably I could take them to court over the terms if, say, I wanted to give away / sell my piggies to someone else and they somehow heard of it and tried to interfere. But I would be violating a signed contract and I’d think I’d lose in civil court. In that I think it’s like any other signed contract where both parties agree to something.
My WAG? I think those contracts are 99% targeted at weeding out people who aren’t serious about adopting / caring for the animals, but are doing it thoughtlessly or on an impulse. Someone who’d take the time to read and sign a contract is someone who’d be more likely to be serious about the whole thing.
Another advantage - to me - is that there’s a safety net in place in case something happens where I truly can’t care for the piggies. The rescue will take them back, as opposed to my having to, say, send them to a shelter where they might not be adopted and would be euthanized.
whatami, it would be great if you could find a copy of the contract your group used, i it’s not too much trouble. I’ll poke around on google in the meantime (thank you JustThinkin’ for the idea and **Gorgonzola **for the link) for a sample to use.
I actually hadn’t thought of going through a bird rescue group, Kevbo, it sounds like a good option. I kind of lean towards private rehoming because then I can demand to visit the bird in its new home after a few months, which would go a long way towards putting my mind at ease - I figure that people can convincingly pretend to be good owners for a short time in my presence but the way the bird behaves around them will reveal how they habitually treat it when I’m not there. I’ll see if there’s a bird rescue near me that might be flexible enough to let me do that.
And can I just say, thank you for not being one of those assholes who dumps their pets on the street, or have them put to sleep, just because they can’t have them anymore and don’t want to pay the local shelter a surrender fee.