To have a pet? Or not have a pet?

            The earlier stories I wrote of pit bulls reminds me of another dilemma; how does one decide if one can afford if they can have a pet?  This week I had a girl come in to look at an extraordinarily large pit bull/mastiff mix.  She was very excited about the dog and after meeting with him had to run to borrow some money for the one hundred dollar adoption fee.  As we were going through the paperwork, I told her there would be an additional $12 license.  I told her she could put it on her credit card, but she said her cards were maxed out due to her paying some bills.  She said she would look in her car for change and when she came back in she had a very large plastic bag full of pennies.  She spilled them out over the counter and proceeded to count every one of them.  To her dismay she only had $2.06.  I sat there not knowing what to say next.  Awkward silence followed.  I cleared my throat and simply said,

            “There isn’t anything I can do. The dog must be licensed.”  She pretended to play on her phone a little while and then got up and left.  I wanted to tell her, that she probably couldn’t afford this dog if she cannot pay for the $12 license.  But this situation made me think, “How does one decide if they can afford an animal?”  For this woman, it’s hard for me to believe that she could afford food for this large dog let along vet bills.  My personal guideline has always been, good quality food (Blue Buffalo), annual vet bills, and enough money for a trip to the emergency room once per year.  But what kind of emergency?  

            This past year I was faced with this very problem.  One of my dogs ate something that could have been potentially lethal.  Taking him to the emergency room the vet quoted us, to start with, a $1,000 over night stay.  My husband and I swallowed, hard.  Not willing to take him home and just watch him die we put the charge on our credit card.  The vets the next morning informed us that he would have to stay hospitalized for at least three days for his kidneys to repair themselves.  Again, we swallowed hard.  But the vets wanted to see our little dog live.  They pooled their own money together to help us pay the cost.  With their help we didn’t take out any loans or have to sign up for care credit.  Because of compassion, our dog lived.  When we first realized he ate some pills we right away set a budget.  As much as I love my animals, I cannot go broke because of them and I think most people feel the same way.  My dog and I were extremely lucky.  We were able to pull through this emergency.  But if the bills had gone any higher, I know we just simply did not have the money to cover it.  Other people have the means to push that line even further.  They give their dogs kiMo, hip replacements or even knee surgery.  I wish I could afford this for my animals, but I know deep down, that I could not.  Does this mean I should not have my dogs?

            We all have our limits as to what we can pay for our animals.  Where is that line that states some people just simply cannot afford to have a dog?  That owning a dog or a pet is a privilege not a right.  Even as I think about this I recall very brave dogs that live with homeless people.  These dogs are these peoples’ sole protection.  Stories persist of homeless people dying and their dogs sleeping on top of their cadavers to protect them even in death.  They bite unwanted groping hands, they growl to scare strangers away, and they bark to alert their owners of danger.  They do not leave for a better life.  They don’t break away and run to find some comfy sofa to sleep on.  They stay.  The dogs didn’t choose that life.  They certainly must love their owners though.  Still, I wonder what the dogs would have to say about it.  Would they give up being a homeless dog, to live somewhere where they would have a hip replacement when they are 8 and live until they are 14?  Or to them, is the devotion and companionship they share with that one person more powerful than security?  I don’t know.  It’s hard not to imagine that the former is not what they would choose.  But love is powerful and friendships eternal.  What’s in a dog’s heart, I cannot say.  Yet, their capacity for love makes it difficult not to believe that they would do anything only to be loved in return.