If you can't afford to take care of your dog, DON'T GET ONE!

I like to think these people's hearts are in the right place, but not their heads.  I don't have a dog right now, but will hopefully in a year...I already have a small savings set aside (and I have a SO who actually makes more money than I do by far).  As much as I love dogs, if I couldn't afford vet bills, regular checkups/preventatives, etc...then I wouldn't get one, but I can also think with my head and not just my heart (and my heart tells me to take home all the dogs at my local shelter heh).

I find this frusterating as well. I caught hell one day from a bunch of people on craigslist for posting a reply to a woman who was looking for assistance b/c he kitten was sick and has had a runny nose for 3 months and she didn't have the money to take it to the vet and did anyone have any suggestions as to what she should do. I admit I kind of went off the handle a bit...but I was furious! I basically told her that she was an irresponsible pet owner and should have the right to own a pet if she didn't have the means to properly care for it. Animals depend on us for their safety and well-being. If we can't provide that, then what good are we as owners?
 
Needless to say, my posting was flagged and many people wrote back to telling me how vicious I was because the "poor girl" was just looking for help.
 
In this woman's case who you are talking about, shame on her for having multiple pets and not being able to care for them. Neglect comes in all forms, not just leaving your pet outside in the cold or feeding him enough. Not providing proper healthcare, preventative or otherwise, qualifies as neglect in my book.
 
Great, now I'm all worked up! Thanks, Corry! lol!

Yet, you know she has a cell phone and obviously has a computer with the internet and probably cable internet and the most expensive cable TV.  Who knows, she may even have HBO. 

And she probably goes out for drinks every weekend and smokes - yet she can't afford heart worm meds.

Yep, I love those people.

all i am going to say is...
imagine you have a wonderful job today... and tomorrow its gone.
will you get rid of your dogs and cats?
dont just tell me what the right thing to do is. i already know it. but WOULD YOU really be able to take them to some complete stranger and hand them over and never own another pet until you could get a better job? what if you never get another job? think a while about that before you reply.

dont judge people until you know them personally. all you can do is assume, and when you assume you just make an ass out of u and me

ETA
you dont like people dumping their pets in shelters. they're evil scum sucking butt heads for doing it. but you dont want people to have pets in they cant afford them. financial situations change every day. if someone loses their job and their only choice is to take their dog to the pound then you label them as irresponcible. if they lose their job and KEEP their pets and it gets sick you label them as irresponcible.... IS ANYONE PERFECT ALL OF THE TIME?

I listened to a radio show on the internet from New York, last week and the host was talking about getting pet insurance which I  have. It is so easy today to run up a vet bill of a couple of thousand dollars for any illness requiring extended treatment, lab tests, emergency room visits, Cat scans, ultra sound, etc..etc.....  A vet that the host was talking to said that other vets are telling her that "Medical Euthanasia" is happening more and more frequently.  Someone brings their dog in and it needs $1,000 worth of treatment , and the people can't afford the money, so they have the dog PTS.  That is  terrible in my opinion and yet it is happening all the time. One caller told of a neighbor's dog that had a bladder infection and they had to put the dog down, because they couldn't afford the treatment.   For $122, I have a years worth of coverage up to $8,000 with a $50 deductable, and I have the peace of mind of knowing that my dog can get all the medical  care she needs in the event of an accident or illness.

I always like that saying   " If You can't afford the Vet, you can't afford the Pet " .

dont judge people until you know them personally

 
DumDog - excellent point.   We may think we have enough money but things happen, things change ... As Elvis used to say 'don't critisize what you don't know, son.  you've never walked a mile in that man's shoes".
 
yes, there are some folks who probably do take on pet ownership without thinking through the full cost picture - but I'll bet there are quite a few who thought they could handle it, but later on cannot - through no fault of their own.   Obviously we all WANT to plan for the future, but times change.   I think sometimes we're too quick to judge and assume - we would all benefit from having more open minds

ORIGINAL: ark3

I find this frusterating as well. I caught hell one day from a bunch of people on craigslist for posting a reply to a woman who was looking for assistance b/c he kitten was sick and has had a runny nose for 3 months and she didn't have the money to take it to the vet and did anyone have any suggestions as to what she should do. I admit I kind of went off the handle a bit...but I was furious! I basically told her that she was an irresponsible pet owner and should have the right to own a pet if she didn't have the means to properly care for it. Animals depend on us for their safety and well-being. If we can't provide that, then what good are we as owners?

Needless to say, my posting was flagged and many people wrote back to telling me how vicious I was because the "poor girl" was just looking for help.

In this woman's case who you are talking about, shame on her for having multiple pets and not being able to care for them. Neglect comes in all forms, not just leaving your pet outside in the cold or feeding him enough. Not providing proper healthcare, preventative or otherwise, qualifies as neglect in my book.

Great, now I'm all worked up! Thanks, Corry! lol!

It really  bothers me when someone posts something that is obviously uncaring as far as their pets are concerned, and when someone else points out how upsetting it is to read how this person is neglecting their pet,  people jump in to defend the irresponsible pet owner...[sm=banghead002.gif]

ORIGINAL: JoAnnDe

dont judge people until you know them personally

DumDog - excellent point.   We may think we have enough money but things happen, things change ... As Elvis used to say 'don't critisize what you don't know, son.  you've never walked a mile in that man's shoes".

yes, there are some folks who probably do take on pet ownership without thinking through the full cost picture - but I'll bet there are quite a few who thought they could handle it, but later on cannot - through no fault of their own.   Obviously we all WANT to plan for the future, but times change.   I think sometimes we're too quick to judge and assume - we would all benefit from having more open minds

If you can afford $2.30 a week you can get pet insurance.  If you can't afford that, don't get a dog.

DumDog, I agree with your sentiments.  When I was in Africa I got to see what it was like to have a family that you cannot afford health care for and in some cases, cannot even afford to feed.  Every day you see little HIV+ babies walking around with flies stuck on their faces and big bloated tummies from malnutrition.  Are these people bad mothers because they had babies before having a hundred thousand dollars in their savings account?  I'm curious as to what people who are so against getting dogs if you can't afford EVO and yearly dentals think about half of the world's population living in abject poverty...

I try to give people the benefit of the doubt until I know enough about their situation to make an accurate judgment.

i dont understand either...
 
if something was to happen and i needed to come up with money...
 
anyone can survive one bread and butter for at least awhile to come up with that money...it's all bout sacrificing on my parts, and that's just a part of your responsibility

Liesje...I share your opinions on that. I also happen to believe that a lot of medications we give our dogs...and likely ourselves...could probably be sold for a lot LESS $$$ than they are.

This got me thinking, everytime I had a situation with a dog I paid out of my pocket, be it with credit card or saved up pet funds. If pet insurance is that cheap then perhaps I need to get my pets insured.
 
Any suggestions on what companies offer the best coverage with decent insurance premiums?

Liesje...I share your opinions on that. I also happen to believe that a lot of medications we give our dogs...and likely ourselves...could probably be sold for a lot LESS $$$ than they are.

Not to mention I think there are a lot of people (myself included) that will spend WAY more time and money on the best vet care and nutrition (a lot of it not really being necessary) on our pets, but will put of going to our own doctors, refuse to spend money on health tests we probably should get, and couldn't care less about our own nutrition.

I think it's really easy to scrutinize and be really critical of our pets and other people's pets simply because of proximity.  It's difficult for us to look inward at ourselves and it's difficult for us to look a little past our own bubbles and see what life is like for people who are truly in need.

Consumer Reports just did a review of Pet insurance...the consensus was 'pass'..but I'll look it up and see what they recommened....I'll start a new thread tho.