This kind-of goes along with the "If you can't afford a dog don't get it" post.
I used to work at a pet supplies store while I was in college. There are alot of horror stories from there, this is one of them.
A woman and her older grumpy husband came in. They asked me about their itchy, rashy dog and what shampoo would help. I recommended a shampoo and then asked them when and where the dog itched. The dog itched all year long, so I suggested it might be a food allergy and asked them what food they were feeding their dog. "Ol'Roy." I suggested that Ol' Roy could definatly be causing the problem and suggested up grading to Diamond Lamb and Rice $22.99 a 40lb bag (not the best but better than Ol' Roy and still inexpensive). The woman was all for it, but her grumpy husband had this spiteful grin on his face and just said "No," and told there that "we are leaving." The woman turned red and followed him.
A few months later the woman came in. She convinced her husband that they should take the dog to the vet and the vet said to switch food. I again showed her the Diamond. She bought it and left. The next day, she returned it. Her husband said "we're not spending that much on a dog." You could tell she had been crying. She asked if we had anything less expensive that would help. I explained that Diamond is the the least expensive "allergy" food, but that it may help to simply switch to something simply better than Ol'Roy, like Purina Dog Chow. I also explained that Diamond will turn out less expensive in the log run because it contains less fillers and she won't have to feed as much. She bought a bag of Dog Chow.
A few months later, the woman and her husband came in because the Dog Chow didn't work. I tried to talk them back into Diamond Lamb and Rice. It was so sad the woman kept pleading with husband, like a child does with their father. She walked away crying!
I don't know for sure, but I'm afraid that the husband decided to put the dog to sleep.
I understand that not everyone is rich, but to the woman that dog was a child. To him it was just a dog and he had no respect for his wife and her feelings.