It’s the end of the spring season, and as I reflect back on the many great galas we had, I find my thoughts lingering on an auction from January where they had a dog as a live auction opportunity.

I tried to talk them out of it, sharing my concerns about whether or not a winning bidder (possibly caught up in the excitement) would be prepared for an immediate and lifelong commitment as a pet owner.

Pets (typically dogs, but occasionally cats) are auctioned at charity events around the country quite often, with bids sometimes exceeding $10,000. In some circumstances, the pet up for auction has already been semi-adopted by someone, including having the pet in a their home before the event. Then those folks are fully prepared to buy the animal at whatever price and bring it back into their home.

If you’re going to auction an animal, think long and hard about the potential downsides. What if the animal isn’t accepted by other pets? What if it needs more time or attention (quite often with puppies) than the buyer is able to give it? What if the pet ends up being donated to a shelter? How will that reflect on your nonprofit? Even worse, what if the animal is treated poorly?

In this case, the event was for a private school, so all the attendees were known by the organizers. This dog ended up selling to a school employee.

Considering allllllll of the possible auction items out there, I’d say you’ve always got another good option other than auctioning an animal.