You Want To Adopt Koi
How This Works
Below is an open notification list that you can subscribe to. Anyone that has koi that need to be rescued will post their information to the list, and you contact them directly to arrange for picking up the koi. The list is moderated and the only messages allowed to pass are ones which announce koi that need a new home -- other messages are deleted, this is NOT a discussion forum. I also may post occasional notices that new pond articles are here at the website.
The expectation is that if someone is asking for their koi to be urgently rescued, that the koi are being given away for free, and that one or just a couple of people will pickup ALL of the koi and help them drain their pond all the way to the bottom.
After the koi are safely in a new location, you can keep the ones you want and adopt out the others individually or however you see fit.
When large group rescues are being organized (like golf course ponds), the list can be used to send out notifications and information about the rescue effort, however the people that want to get involved in the effort need to respond directly to the person(s) who are organizing the effort.
The way a group rescue works is typically everyone shows up at a designated date and time, everyone helps catch the fish, and then those fish are divided up after the pond has been drained. Usually taking turns, one person picks one fish, then the next etc. till all fish have been adopted. You do NOT have to take any fish home, anyone is welcome to just help catch the fish.
Warranty of koi health
It is expected that when a person picks up a koi, they assume all responsibility for the koi as it goes into their possession. If a koi dies in your car on the way home or when it is shipped to you, well, that is the way it goes, and you should figure out what went wrong so you can prevent that in the future. From my experience rescuing koi, the only un-fixable trouble is when the koi is first rescued from a severe stressed environment where they were already on death's door, such as a golf course pond that was being drained, and the fish were in respiratory distress when picked up.
Quarantine of Adopted Koi
Everyone who has a koi pond should have a quarantine system (spare tank, filter etc), and it is the expectation that the final owner perform the quarantine process.
Disclaimer
(sadly I have to post this) By inviting people to rescue your fish, you agree to hold them or any other members of Phoenix Koi Rescue harmless of liability or damage while we are performing a rescue. We will do our best to be polite and act in a professional manner, but sometimes accidents happen, ponds are slippery and messy. Also the people rescuing your fish agree to hold you harmless of any damage or injury caused to the rescuer or their property. A rescuer is arriving to your location at their own risk.