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Is one allowed to pay a service fee for an aveirah which someone else has already done, in order to get some other good or service now? The case I had in mind is an animal adoption where the agency charges a fee for neutering already performed.

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  • To understand the case: do they perform the procedure anyway on all animals in their care, or only on animals that are about to be adopted? – Fred May 10 '12 at 18:13
  • All animals; it's a done deal, and they are passing on the fee to the adopter. – yitznewton May 10 '12 at 18:16
  • Is neutering animals an aveirah for Gentiles? – Shemmy May 10 '12 at 22:11
  • @Shemmy it's a good question, but assume for here that the seller is a Jew. – yitznewton May 11 '12 at 14:19
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Paying for an Aveira that was already done, is probably not a problem - especially in this case where you did not request the Aveira to be done.

In הלכות איסורי מזבח פרק ד:יב the Rambam states that if you pay a harlot after the fact, the payment does not have the status of Ethnan and can be used as a Korban. This is true even if you agreed on a price and only sent the animal later, as Yehuda did (or tried to do) with Tamar.

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  • Nice find, and +1, but I'm not sure the lack of applicability of hilchos esnan implies that it's permissible. – msh210♦ Jul 26 '12 at 15:57
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    @msh210 yes, but it's the act that's impermissible, not the payment - no? I would think even more so with the animal, since the payment does not degrade the act any more, as opposed to the zenus. – yitznewton Jul 27 '12 at 16:59

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