The Calculus of cats and dogs

I was miffed by your observation the other day too, but I decided not to comment then, because in general I agreed with that post. It’s very frustrating to watch someone you care about who is in debt and struggling financially buy themselves and all their family members iPhones (and the plans to go with them), to give up a cheap rental in favor of a much more expensive one, etc.

And I agree with pretty much everything you’ve said today – I adore my dog, and my husband and I don’t have kids so he’s the closest thing we have to that right now. But we’re not in debt. We have maxed out our 401K contributions, we’re saving in IRAs on top of that, our emergency fund is full and flush, and we’re taking a trip (to Portland!) later this month for a short vacation that we’ve saved up enough money to pay for. So – position of privilege, check. If I’m honest with myself, if it came down to the dog’s vet and food bills or our house, I would reluctantly try to find someone else who could take the dog, even if it was just one of our parents to keep him until we got back on our feet.

For the record, I think I was more upset the other day because of the implication that the options were A) take this $500/month rental and give up the dogs, or B) keep them but get a $1300/month rental. There HAVE to be in-betweens. There have to be places that allow dogs that cost less money, especially in Portland, which is a very animal-friendly town. I think the question maybe should have been about making the commitment to give the dogs exercise in a place WITHOUT a big yard to run and play. Anyway. Thanks for all you do – I am a big fan of the site!

Meh. Your justifications and explanations of why someone who is having financial problems should give up their pets is overly dramatic. Very few truly middle class Americans go from owning a home, having a job, etc to living in a van down by the river unless they have other issues besides being out of work or not handling their finances properly (like a drug or alcohol problem).

I wouldn’t put my kids in an orphanage if I was having financial difficulties, so I wouldn’t take my pets to the shelter either in the same circumstances. End of discussion.

And given this is your position, I will take every other suggestion in your blog with a giant grain of salt. Actually, more than likely, I’ll just delete you from my Google reader list and be done.

As I recall, one of the planning failures associated with the Hurricane Katrina evacuation was that, while there were some provisions for public (non-car) evacuation, it was only for people, not for pets. Many people chose to stay in their homes to face the storm with their pets, rather than evacuate to safety but abandon their pets.

I was homeless for the longest time (yes, on the street homeless) because my mother refused to give up her dog. I guess we know what her priority was.

JD, I’m sorry to hear about Toto. I’ve actually been going through something similar myself — two months ago my 11 year old tortie was diagnosed with kidney disease. Fortunately, I don’t have to worry about homelessness or financial ruin in caring for her ($1300 in May and we have a vet appt this morning), but I have still been faced with how far to go for her (we opted not to do the $3000-4000 kidney stone surgery, for quality of life reasons). I love my cat, and it’s not easy to make these kind of decisions. Good luck with Toto.

Great article JD! I have a 17 year old poodle which I’ve had since he was 8 weeks old. Received Charlie when I was 10 and I’m 27 now, my first dog. He came into our family when my sister was a few months old and my brother was 1 1/2 years. He has been with me longer than he has not, and my siblings can’t remember live without him. He is almost totally blind and hard of hearing. I question when will it be Charlie’s time almost every day. I feel he still has a good life, with more ups than downs, but know his time is soon. I also have a rescued cat that is 20 years old, taken in 5 years ago when her owner past. She is slowing down and getting quite demanding (and like to scratch you if you walk by and don’t pet her). I just hope I know when their time has come. I also know that money in vet bills does not always mean quality time.

Personally about vegetarian diet: I just moved to a vegan diet yesterday. I was a vegatarian for 6 years, then ate meat again. My sister and aunt have been vegans for 3-4 years. They have both asked me to do vegan for 30 days, because its only 30 days they say, then see how I feel. Plus I spend so much of my free time and money on animals it really does make sense.

I’ve been following this thread with interest, because I’m a 20 year veteran of the animal welfare movement and the executive director of a large humane society. Over the course of my career, I’ve seen people relinquish animals for the lamest of reasons (he’s not a puppy anymore so he’s no longer cute) and for the most heartbreaking of reasons (going into a nursing home).

As the economy crumbles, animal shelters around the country find themselves facing a choice: do we take in every animal displaced by human tragedy (often at the risk of the animal’s life) or do we put programs in place that try to bridge the gap and keep animals with their families?

What we have discovered is that we are able to help at least 50% of the people who come to us thinking that relinquishment of their animal is their only option when faced with foreclosure, job loss, or other financial crisis. When they discover our pet food bank, our low-cost spay/neuter services, our foster program for pets of people who are temporarily homeless, etc, they are able to re-think their strategy. For the other 50%, there may be no option and we’ll take their animals and do our best. But, thanks to being ready to meet people where they are, we can take in fewer homeless animals and keep families intact.

If anyone is faced with a crisis and believes the only alternative is re-homing your pet, start planning ahead. Uncover the resources available in your area. Work with family and friends to find temporary or permanent placement. Learn how to responsibly re-home your animal on your own. And then, as a last resort, call your local animal adoption center to inquire about relinquishing the animal. Waiting until the sheriff’s notice is on the door and the moving van is idling out front is NOT the time to decide how to deal with your pets.

It remains a paradox that pets are considered consumer items by most Americans (how else to explain the flourishing puppy mill trade), but most Americans with pets consider them “members of the family.”

Thanks, JD, for giving some time to this subject.

I have an inside cat and an outside dog (and a small house in the middle of a big property where the dog can run). I deeply love my pets, and I’ve already spent a lot of money on them. I especially had 3 cats before that one, that died for various reason (2 of accidents, one of disease). I each time paid the vet without one split second of hesitation, without even asking beforehand how much it would cost, but only because I COULD. Having a pet is a “luxury” (as it’s not a basic need to live), but since it’s one I can afford and something that makes my life extraordinarily better, it’s all good.

I would never EVER be happy to give away my pets, but I could consider this option if it was really my last one before losing my house or getting in deep debt.

I agree with you that no matter how much we love them, animals are not human, and even though we are responsible of them, we also are responsible of humans, ourselves at first place and our family too, if we have one. I make that kind of distinction with charities: I give at every food collect, but I give about 5 times more for human food than for pet food… It’s not much every time, but it’s a balance that fit my values and my budget!

One more thing- if you give your pet up to a shelter (not Humane Society) you should know that shelter has the right to sell your pet to a laboratory testing facility to make money for the city/county. Seems unfair, but it’s true.

We have several friends who I know would take in our dog if we were ever in a situation where we could not properly care for him. It would be extremely difficult to give him up nevertheless.

Frankly, it’s making decisions like that, the hardly insignificant costs of pet maintenance, an looming huge expenditures (hello, grad school!) that have kept me from getting a pet. Instead, I spend at least an hour a week volunteering at the local (no-kill) humane society. I get my pet fix, without the expenses, the cats are happier, and the shelter gets more socialized and therefore adoptable animals.

Most shelters also offer foster programs, which allow you to take on an animal only when the timing works for you, and then give them back when they’re ready for adoption. Generally the shelter covers all medical expenses and can help with food if necessary.

It’s kitten season most places now- if you can help foster (or even adopt), please consider doing so!

I’m really glad you wrote this! I think people get way too touchy about the issue of giving up a pet and don’t understand how heartbreaking it could be.

My neighbor’s family had a rotten 2009 – she went through chemo for an aggressive cancer, her daughter’s seizure disorder got worse, and her husband got into a motorcycle accident causing hefty brain damage. Eventually she had to rehome her beloved beagle and her husband had to leave because she couldn’t take care of her own cancer and his brain injury and their aging dog and the daughter.

In the last couple of months – she’s gotten better, is back at work, and both the husband and dog have been back at the house. Since her beagle had been rehomed to someone she knew, she didn’t have to say good bye forever.

There are some people who give up dogs because they were too irresponsible in the first place, but the majority of people who give away a pet in hard times are just trying to do the best by their animal. The act of giving up a dog that you cannot take care of is ABSOLUTELY the BEST and MOST RESPONSIBLE thing a person can do, and no one should be judged for it.

You can’t possibly fathom the heartbreak and torment a person goes through having to make a decision like that… and FYI: while some services are listed here, there really isn’t such a thing as doggy food stamps or kitty WIC or parrot welfare checks or free ferret medical insurance. People don’t give up their kids in times of financial distress (well some do, but they’re not rehoming them on Craigslist with a small fee) because there are specially designed, federally funded programs to keep kids happy and healthy even when their parents are at rock bottom. There are so many resources to help families stay together (which barely work most of the time, but another issue for another day) – and not enough to keep a pet a member of the family in hard times.

This is an issue of responsibility. People who give up a pet without much thought are probably are not really taking responsibility in other areas of their life. Giving up your pet should be one of the hardest decisions you ever make. Having a pet means that you may have to make that decision or the decision to euthanize. It is part of the responsibility you accept when you choose to share your life with a pet. My issue in this case is that suggesting someone who is making bad choices get rid of their pets seems to be feeding in to their irresponsibility. The dogs are not the problem. In a case like this too often they become the victim of a human’s irresponsibility. That is why so many of us reacted to the suggestion.

Moogie (#9), your language is unnecessary and inappropriate.

Also, in response to your comment: I don’t have a cat, so I cannot say what vet care is appropriate for cats, but dogs should see a vet at least once a year for a regular checkup, as most dog owners do not have the education and experience that vets do, and therefore cannot determine the state of their pet’s health the way the vet can. People who incur regular costs from vet visits are not doing anything horrible to their pets; they are providing basic care.

Wow, we have certainly fallen far from the common sense tree. Dogs & Cats as kids, ummm no they are a luxury, not a need (except for the blind, etc). My family loves our dog, but if things get so bad that we can’t pay our bills, guess what will be first to go. People are more important (although less lovable at times). Men need to be men in these kind of situations, not soft hearted fools.

Sometimes, as you said, the best thing for the pet is to be given up. We adopted a Golden named Niles last year (our previous golden died in July). Niles was an owner surrender to the rescue group we went through. His story was that he’d been owned by the the same person since he was a puppy and there had been life changes – a new baby, job loss, downsizing due to the economy. Niles was living in an apartment with no yard and near a busy city street. I can’t imagine having to give him to a rescue group, but that’s what happened.

It was certainly the best for Niles. He’s now in a large home with a nice big yard – gets twice daily walks and has a very healthy diet. He looks great.

I used to think I could never get rid of my pets, but experiencing this has made me realize that good choices can be made from very difficult decisions. To surrender this dog was the best thing for him. It also has to be much easier on the family now that they don’t have to foot the health and food bills for a 100 lb dog.

JD- You should totally go veg, you’ll love it! And also, I think Donna Freedman’s comment about how “Fido deserves better” was total BS. People that give up their pets ARE NOT giving them a better life. They’re ensuring the animal’s death in a cold, concrete shelter. How is that better? I would seriously live in my car before I’d give up my dogs because I’m a good person who stands by my commitments.

@Cole Brodine- You’re making yourself sound pretty heartless- you may want to think about that next time.

Just recently lost my 14 year old husky that our family loved. The last four weeks we gave him “hospice” type care and he truly enjoyed his life. Mostly because he got to eat all he wanted, don’t we all wish we could go out that way? I just wanted to add that during the last couple years he was on medication for hip issues. My vet was the one that told me one prescription could be filled under the four dollar plan at Wal-mart. It was much higher at her clinic and I would never have thought of that. I also found 1-800petmeds was much cheaper for his higher cost medication. They were great and if you researched and found the drug cheaper at another internet site, they would match that price. I saved a lot this way and its a good tip for others who like me loved our family member but needed to save too. Lastly we truly believe you must let them go when they loose quality of life and not keep them around just because you will miss them!

There is a line, but most people don’t want to think about it, and don’t, until they are forced to cross it.

When I lost my job several years ago, (and had to report my former employer for non-payment of wages for my last month’s salary), I was BROKE. Worse than broke. I had only been out of college for a few months, and had only a few hundred saved up, which was gone in 6 weeks. I had to borrow money from my parents to pay one month’s rent, and my boyfriend’s parents to pay another month’s. It was 3 months before I found work and another month before I got paid at that job. I went from April to August without a paycheck. In July, I finally broke down and called the rescue to take back my cat. One woman seemed sympathetic, but another wrote me a nasty email that put me in tears for a long time whenever I thought about it. She told me I was a horrible person who should never own another pet.

I now have a dog, who I love dearly, and would go to great lengths to keep him, and keep him in good health. But the other day I heard a woman say to another person about how she had spent $9,000 in the last few months on vet bills. NINE THOUSAND DOLLARS. I was aghast. As much as I love my dog, I wouldn’t go into that kind of debt to keep him alive. If that makes me a horrible person, well I guess I am.

Let’s say you adopt a dog who turns out cannot adapt to apartment living. What do you do? Move to a house, or try to find a better home for the dog?

Sometimes even if you love animals, having a pet is just stupid and cruel to the animal. Having a pet is expensive! Anyone who isn’t in a very secure financial situation should never even get a pet in the first place. way too many people who are unemployed or just out of college get pets, IMO. They should pay more attention to what the pet needs and if they can actually afford it before taking on the responsibility.

Although I agree that pets are not equivalent to children, I think they should be treated very well if you do have them.

In my part of the country (rural midwest), too many people own big dogs like labs or goldens but just keep them shut up in their garage all day & night (in the winter) or staked on a chain in their small yard (in the short summer).

The animals typically aren’t trained or socialized or taken for regular walks or given any vet care–and they bark all the time from boredom. And I’m sorry to say that some people when they have their first baby, realize they can’t afford the dog or they worry it’s going to bite the baby, so they just take it out to the quarry and shoot it in the head.

It’s the lack of money that leads to this kind of bad treatment of animals (especially the lack of vet care)–yet, all these people would say they “love” their dog(s). I think they should just realize they can’t affort to treat the dog right and forego being pet owners.

Even though I can afford it, I refuse to get
a pet at this point in my life because I know I can’t take care of it properly. I live in a suburban neighborhood (so the pet would have to be kept indoors all day), I have 2 small children and I work full+ time at a demanding job. What kind of a life would a dog have? I don’t have any time to spend with a dog–my available time is spent with my kids–, and I’d have to keep it penned up in my garage or yard most of the time.

Jenny (#25) I think hit it right on the money.

I have a dog, whom I love, and hey, I might not have a huge yard and tons of money to dote on her, but she has a good life. I know that if things got really rough, she has a place to go that isn’t a shelter (where she’d most likely be put down because she isn’t a puppy, see http://blogs.catster.com/the-cats-meow-a-cat-and-kitten-blog/shelter-rant/2009/01/29/ and http://www.princeofpetworth.com/2010/05/dear-pop-washington-humane-society-issues/). And I thought about all of these things before I adopted her. Growing up with pets, and taking an active role in their care, I understood that pets are a huge responsibility and I was willing to accept that. If you don’t, that is fine. Just don’t get a pet.

I definitely had a reaction to your earlier post. And it’s because of what Jenny talked about, so many irresponsible people get pets and think of them as a luxury in the way they think of a car or a piece of art. When things get rough they can just give them to the animal shelter cause thats what they are there for right? They have this idea that the dog will end up with a caring family with a huge yard (see the link above about what happens to most pets in shelters). Or, in the case of cats and reptiles, they just set them loose in the neighborhood or a local park. Pets aren’t people, but they are living, breathing things that rely on us to live. And there are pet owners who understand this, but several do not. It’s not responsibly rehoming a pet after you’ve exhausted all other options that is the issue, it’s the idea that “well, get rid of your dogs” is a legitimate suggestion, when clearly these people with their iphones are not in completely dire straits. It legitimizes this attitude that pets are as disposable as a comic book collection or a car. It’s an attitude that allows puppy mills and irresponsible breeders to exist, which necessitates squalid, overcrowded shelters.

Obviously, JD, you don’t feel that way. I think that’s just how it came off to people.

I’m with #43, April.

The problem is often people in poverty take public assistance AND keep pets. So essentially, I’m working hard to pay extra taxes so this guy can have two dogs, when I, myself, decided I should not get another dog because of the expense. I don’t mind paying taxes to keep children fed, but dogs? No. The dogs ARE better off elsewhere where someone can take care of them without using taxpayers’ money.

On one hand I have seen many instances of people who really shouldn’t have had pets, ranging from people neglecting their pets, leaving them without food or not bringing them to the vet (too expensive) to hoarder types. So I don’t agree that having a pet is “forever” because it encourages people to hold onto animals they simply cannot take care of (not saying his friend is at that point yet). In the same way, people can lose custody of their children if they cannot provide for them.
On the other hand, I have known a homeless vet who had two dogs; he lived in his car with his dogs. He was offered transitional housing but turned it down because he would have to give up his dogs to do that, who were like family to him and the only continuity and support he had in his life for many years. Some people can understand his position, others will not. I personally wished they were able to work with this vet so that they could accomodate housing with his special circumstances.

A lot of my choices have been dictated by my need to provide for my pets. I’ve made several cross-country moves with cats and dogs. I’ve bought houses when I might have been better served by renting until I knew the area because I couldn’t find a rental that would take pets. 3 years ago I had to live in a 1977 travel trailer parked in the driveway of a friend for 2 months and it was not fun. I was in between selling one house and moving to another. Once in 2005 I paid around $1400 to diagnose and try to save one of my furry family. Yes, the costs of pets adds up and I give mine better food than most people do. Regular vet care is a necessity not a luxury.

The need to provide for the animals has actually been one of the driving forces in getting financially healthy. The lower your credit score, the less likely you are to be able to borrow, and the less you have in savings, the more vulnerable you are. Having money will dictate your choices on what care you can afford. If you lose your income you might be faced with having to give up your family.

I don’t buy expensive clothes, have only been to Spain and that was to visit a friend, I don’t collect anything, I don’t have expensive hobbies anymore, I use the library a lot. My car is over 10 years old. I still have a mortgage but I bought far less house and even when I loved I went to a house in the country with less amenities and lower value. I live much more frugally than any of my friends.

If I lost it all I am not sure exactly at what point I would face giving up my furry family members. I would try to place my animals well but in case people don’t realize it there are still upwards of 3 million pets killed in this country ever single year in shelters/pounds/animal control facilities, because there are simply too many of them. Actually, this is a hot-button for me and so I am not going to be as logical as I would like, as I volunteer at my local humane society. People who don’t regard their pets as having worth dump them into their backyards and ignore them. Then when the going gets tough they bring them to us and dump them. Those animals don’t trust people and don’t know how to coexist with other animals. It is hard to see perfectly nice animals treated as poorly as we have seen. And as hard as we try there are still animals euthanized because there are too many of them and they don’t do well in the stress of living in close quarters with other animals.

I admire and commend the homeless people I see travelling or panhandling with their pets because they are far stronger and better human beings in my mind than the people who drive away from the animal shelter in their over-priced new model cars to their houses they can’t afford. I would fight tooth and nail to keep my animals.

I currently have 3 dogs, no cats, and one of the dogs was supposed to be a foster dog that turned out to be too shy to adopt to just anyone. They are an inspiration to keep getting more money into savings.

I’m only sharing our story, because we’ve put a lot of thought into this at our house. Unlike many commenters, we’ve had pets before and during kids. We don’t have any pets now, because we can barely keep up with ourselves and the kids.

We had cats before kids, and our cats were our “kids.” One of the reasons (no, NOT the only reason) we bought a house when we did was to accommodate our cats. In fact, when the younger cat had sudden kidney failure, we invested a lot of money at the emergency vet, only to have her immediately die.

Then, we actually had kids. Given the demands of our our average, normal, healthy kids, the cat was definitely not an actual child. We simply didn’t have the quiet time in our lives to enjoy her as much, and our financial resources and goals dramatically changed. We decided that financial security of our family was more important than very expensive medical treatments for pets. We went into every vet appointment with an idea of what we were willing to invest in our pets’ health.

In the end, the remaining cat became very ill, and we weren’t willing to spend a lot of money to keep her alive and suffering. We were sad, but had her put down.

And now, we’re not willing to invest our affections, energy, or money in a pet.

When the kids are older, I think DH and I will want a pet or two again, and be willing to invest what it takes to keep them happy and healthy. I don’t see that being for several more years, though!

95% of people I know who say their pets are like kids don’t have kids, and the rest are very vulnerable (elderly, sick, etc). My cat was my baby until I became a parent for real.

My cat is 20 now and has outlasted about a half dozen other pets (most due to death). She has been my companion since I was seven. I have paid plenty of pet deposits and vet bills in that time. She has been going through kidney failure for six years. She has bad arthritis and sleeps most of the time. I can’t give her most meds due to her kidneys.

My German Shepherd is four and he has already cost more than my cat in his life because he rushes in where others fear to tread and I think he feels no pain. He has hurt himself pretty severely and the hardest part of treating him is getting him to stop playing (“Titan, no more fetch! There’s blood all over the deck and I’m pretty sure it’s yours.”) We have spent more than one night in the E-vet office waiting for him to be stitched up.

This leads me to my vet philosophy. I will pay what it takes to stitch up wounds. Chronic health problems, however, will likely result in euthanasia. This is due to expense as well as comfort of the animal (getting repeated treatments/medication) and myself (giving repeated treatments/medication). I might feel differently if I lived in a world where animals weren’t euthanized simply because there are too many souls and not enough homes, but I don’t and doubt I ever will simply because of how quickly they can reproduce. Why would I spend thousands of dollars treating feline leukemia when I can instead rescue another cat and donate the money to provide care to how many cats for how long? Is my current cat’s life worth more because it happens to hold my affection? Most people aren’t paying for the care of the cat because it is their responsibility, but because THEY want the cat to live longer.

And for those of you that think pets and people have a moral equivalent: Many people choose to die rather than undergo treatments. My grandmother accepted death rather than undergo invasive surgery. I think in health cases we need to think of animals as more like the elderly than kids. Our animals will likely die before us, that’s the nature of the system. So even if there WERE a moral equivalent I would do more for my kid than my pet. I would also do more for my kid than my parent or grandparent, and any and all of them would expect that and make the same choices. I would also do more for a young animal than an older animal. Resources are limited. It’s always a balance.

Regarding if/when I would give up my pets if I hit the financial skids, I would do what I could to find new homes for my dogs when I was on the verge of losing my home. If I couldn’t find homes, I would turn them over to the humane society when it became a matter of survival (having food and shelter) for myself and my family.

And you know what? If I didn’t have food and shelter for my daughter I would rehome her as well. With family and friends if possible, with the state as a last resort. Just until I got my feet back under me and could provide basic necessities of life. The separation is traumatic, but so is homelessness and not knowing if there will be food at the next meal. We offered to take a family member’s kids last year. She’s a user and a loser, taking drugs while nursing, and exposing her little ones to all sorts of bad things. She refused because SHE would miss THEM (we convinced her to stop nursing and we left the issue to the authorities).

And I think that’s what it comes down to with a lot of pet owners as well as parents. They wrap their need in noble words, but it’s not about responsible pet ownership or parenting, but about meeting their own needs to be depended on and loved.

Ole!!

Dee

I will grant that the language choice in the original post (my use of “get rid of”) was unfortunate. At no time did I mean putting the animals down. It was just me being lazy with my vocabulary skills…

There have been times in the past where I was out of groceries for a few days because I spent the last of the grocery money on cat food. (I had two cats that I adopted when I was 19).

But now I have a child, and he comes before the cats.

The other issue for me is the balance of suffering for the animal. When elderly people in my family have gotten sick enough that they refused care, they were allowed hospice care -just painkillers and help with bathing/bathroom/movement. That’s what we did with our elderly cat, except when he got to the point he couldn’t breathe and seemed afraid all the time, I had the option of euthanasia.

With younger animals it’s a lot harder decision. We did spend $1700 on bladder surgery for a young cat – I don’t think I would, on my own, I kept thinking “I could donate this to Partners in Health and provide health care for poor children” but my partner really wanted to. The vet we’d been going to wanted $4000 for the surgery,but I shopped around and found a much cheaper vet.

Incidentally, I just plain like the cheaper vet a lot more. (I prefer country vets, their attitude is a lot more pragmatic generally. But the hour drive isn’t worth it to me anymore.)

The expensive vet seemed to always be implying that we were bad people because we had cost concerns about veterinary care – not only was it irritating to feel judged by the vets, but it made me distrust their advice because I always felt like they were upselling me.

RE animal intelligence, this article blew me away and I thought you might like it:

http://www.oprah.com/relationships/What-Pets-and-Wild-Animals-Are-Thinking-Animals-and-Emotions

@Mindy (#64)
Yes, that sort of stuff is exactly what I’m talking about. The author of that article (Eugene Linden) has written some great books about animal intelligence. Like him, I believe that anyone who takes the time to slow down and observe and interact with animals cannot help but see these creatures do have rich emotional and intellectual lives. No, there are no dolphin cities (Rush Limbaugh’s common but stupid complain that animals are dumb), but there are plenty of other examples of ways in which animals are intelligent — much more intelligent than we credit them.

Thanks for sharing that article.

From the article Mindy (#64) linked to:

Like Wall Street types, some animals are savvy enough to game the system. Spock, a dolphin at another now defunct marine park in California, discovered that if he brought stray pieces of paper to his trainer, he would be rewarded with treats. But the trainer, Jim Mullen, wasn’t always around when Spock found a piece of paper. Perhaps this is why Spock started hoarding, collecting pieces and wedging them against an outflow pipe, demonstrating an admirable thrift and an understanding of the basic principles of paper money and banking.

Animal intelligence and personal finance all in one! Now, if only there were some comic books involved in the story, it would be perfect…. 🙂

Thanks for addressing this. Like at least one other reader, your wording in Wednesday’s article bugged me a little, but I knew the place you were coming from, and your overall advice (and subsequent realizations regarding judging or not) were sound. Rehoming (either temporarily or permanently) a pet would definitely fall into the “desperate times call for desperate measures” category, but those times do happen.

I’m very sorry to hear about Toto.

Päivi, please allow me to make a few edits to what you said.
Having a dog can gives immense health and social benefits: it can forces people to go out and exercise, can provides social contacts and essentially makes them feel needed. Such therapy can would be much more expensive if provided via our public healthcare system or social services.

People have to relize that pets are animals, yes animals. When we decide to get a pet we are making a decision dedicate our rescources to let beast live better then the majority of fellow man. and more selfishly just thinke of how much the average parent spends on a pet and that could go to a childs education.

Some times Pets can be a great asset.
-Cat’s catch mice(most other types of mouse traps are much cheaper).
-Some Dog’s protect family & personal property.
-you can teach some animals to perform very small chores my old dog would go get the sews paper from the end of my 200 ft drive way and my current dog gets me a beer out of the fridge then closes the door.
-an animal can be a great companion(this is a hard thhing to put a value on)

Pets can be liabilities to
-Emergancy vet bills can really add up.
-dogs can be fairly destructive chewing things up, damaging land scaping.
-increase in home owners insurance
– animals bring in bugs and diesas such as ticks flees (last night my pregnat wife )
-if you want to go away you have to find someone to care for a pet
-neighbor issues
-Pet odors can really hurt the resale value of a home.
– and many more

I am a guilty pet owner, My dog is a great friend and gives me a lot of companionship I really care for for my dog but I do believe that my resources probally could have been better spent.

-If you are thinking about getting a pet watch “Marly and Me” and add up all of the added cost the family went through and ask yourself can you afford this , would your rescourse be better used somplace else and are you prepared to make this commitment.

I think it’s an interesting subject.
I was one of the vocal people on that article, but I’d like to point out that what really got to me was that your friends had bought 3 iPhones and an iPod, was planning on getting a new car, etc.
In a situation like that, doing all of that and yet getting rid of pets for “financial reasons” just wouldn’t sit with me. As for renting a bigger place, I don’t think having dog would be his only reason for that. While I don’t know him and could be very wrong, the article in question led me to believe that he cares a lot about his comfort.

Anyway, all of that and, as pointed out, your unfortunate choice of words, led me to make my comment. It is simply not something I would suggest to someone in his situation (and I do realise that you didn’t suggest it to him, either).

I wrote a testimony about my case of over-saving a little while back. I would skip meals to save, I didn’t buy anything but the basic needs, and so on. But my cat? I still bought her the good food, the one I trusted wouldn’t be unhealthy for her. I was lucky enough that she was perfectly healthy, but if she had shown the first sign of not being so, I would have brought her to the vet.

I think it’s the dependency thing. I could inflict things on myself – and, to some extent, my husband – because we’re responsible adults who could sacrifice things for long-term reasons, and knew why we were doing it. If I had made my cat go through this, in my mind it would have just been abuse.

There is also the kind of cat she is. I have been gone for weekends before, and people who took care of her – my husband, my in-laws – told me she would just lie on something that smelled like me (my bed, my clothes) and stay there all day, not eat, not do anything. I don’t trust in her survival if she was away from me, so yes, in her case, I would keep her if I was homeless.
I think it has a lot to do with the fact I rescued her as she was still a kitten who would normally still be breastfeeding. From her point of view, I am probably the closest thing she has to a mother. And she is just that dependent. Cats tend to be territorial, they get attached to the place they live in, but the vet told me that basically, I am her territory. She didn’t care at all when she moved from France to Canada, but if she’s away from me, she’ll suffer from it.

This being said, we now have a second cat, who found us in October. He had two hernias, and was a stray. We took him in, he is the most affectionate cat I have even known. I love him just as much, but in his case, I could see how having a different owner who could take proper care of him would be more humane than having him stay with us. He loves us too, but not in the same way.

So I think it also depends from one animal to the next.

As for keeping animals alive, it really depends on the whole context, but I think in many cases, for the pet’s sake it’s not worth it. Might as well let them go when their life is still worth living. I think at some point, keeping them alive becomes selfish more than selfless, if I’m making sense. Of course it depends on their condition too.

I don’t have children, so I can only try and guess, but the way I see it, I would try and act the way I would if the pets were a child. That is, if I had one child, I’d try and think of how I would act if I had two children. Obviously, I wouldn’t neglect one for the other. If I had two, I’d wonder how I’d act if I had three, etc.
In that case, all pets would be grouped as “one child” rather than each count as one. The point wouldn’t be to consider them human, because they’re not, it would be to remind myself that it’s not necessarily a choice between the two, since if the pets were a child I definitely wouldn’t consider neglecting one child in favour of another one.

If the choice was slightly different, that is, if for instance I wanted a child but had a pet I knew wouldn’t be compatible (either that the child would be bad for the pet or the pet for the child), I wouldn’t have a child. I would take care of the being that is already there. Possibly consider delaying my plans until the pets are dead, but not in a “I’m waiting for you to die” way, if I’m making sense. It just wouldn’t make sense for me to “get rid” of an existing being who trusts me in favour of an hypothetical being who doesn’t even exist yet.

@Avistew (#76)
What a lot of people seem to be missing, however, is the timeline of that conversation. I didn’t know about the possible car purchase and the definite phone purchase when I made the comment about the dogs. That occurred early in the conversation, before all of this other stuff was revealed to me.

But the unfortunate word choice? Yeah, that was my fault.

A few years ago I adopted a pair of kittens with the intent that they’d help control the mice in my mountain home, and also keep each other company while I was at work. I have a conservation ethic and told my housemate that I didn’t want them going outside where they would kill local wildlife and take food away from native predators. I’ve witnessed a pair of cats that could each kill 3-5 small animals every day- mice, voles, rabbits, birds, snakes etc. Songbirds are declining around the world and domesticated cats are right next to habitat destruction as a cause.

My housemate didn’t share my ethic. The first cat disappeared after being let out and was likely eaten by a coyote or cougar (at least we fed the local wildlife… maybe I’m wrong about my ethic?).

My housemate again let the other cat out. We found her late on a Saturday night, wounded but alive. She’d clearly been attacked and had bite wounds on both sides of her abdomen. It was easy to imagine her in a coyote’s mouth, based on the pattern.

I admired her tenacity fighting off something so much larger and took her to the vet (she seemed to be in shock though not bleeding too badly). We started with X-rays, then exploratory surgery and then the real operation to repair torn intestines and a punctured kidney. Before it was over I was in $1700.

I realized I couldn’t prevent this from happening again and ended up moving (extreme but it was time to find less expensive housing anyway).

I sometimes call her my golden cat. I’ve been in some rough spots where I didn’t have much will to live, and I can say she helped me through them and has repaid the favor well.

If I had outdoor pets, I’d definitely have insurance for them. I probably would be wise to get it anyway for her, just in case she ever escapes.

jac, #75, you said:
I still grieve more for some of my deceased pets than I do for some people that have passed through my life.

Do pets deserve equal (or more) respect than humans? If you really think so, then maybe you should take that up with your city/county/state legislators, and if you ever get it to the SCOTUS, then I’ll buy you a beer.

Sure, some pets are wonderful and some people are scumbag assholes, but even the worst scumbag asshole murdering rapist on death row is afforded more societal benefits than a pet. It’s wrong, I know, but that’s just the way it will be until you change the law.

My pets were my kids who I couldn’t imagine giving up. Then…I became a Mom to real kids, the kind with two legs. That caused my priorities to shift in a big way. Now, if I ever found myself in dire financial straits, my four legged kids would go to a different home long before I put my children through any kind of homelessness. Also, there is no way I would sacrifice my kids’ college fund, my retirement fund, or even my children’s healthy, organic food budget to pay for excessive vet bills for an animal. We budget to feed our pets well, pay for yearly shots, worming, etc.. But a $9,000 dollar vet bill? Not going to happen. Sorry.

Interesting post. My family has always had pets, and my brothers and I always considered our dog as an extra sibling. No questions asked. At the same time, our current dog has had a series of extremely expensive health problems requiring medication, surgery, and restricted diets. My parents sat down with us and made it clear that there was a cost-benefit analysis to be made here – if our puppy was not responding well, and if things kept getting more expensive, the humane option would be to put her to sleep instead of simply pour money into her. So far, we’ve been lucky in that we can afford the treatments and that she’s responding well.

I myself own a horse. Fellow horse-owners and I often joke that there is no way to be financially responsible and own a horse. Take every problem and expense you’ve ever had with a cat or dog, and multiply it by at least ten. So I count every single penny. Every dollar I’ve ever transferred to a savings account has been accomplished through blood, sweat, or tears – frequently all three. I routinely write checks totalling thousands of dollars without a qualm for him, and agonize over spending $1 on a meal for myself. I have friends who basically want nothing to do with me because I can’t afford to go out drinking with them; I’ve had other acquaintances who have lectured me angrily about my poor choices, though it’s none of their business. As above, it’s really a cost-benefit analysis. I feel, quite deeply, that I would have no reason to get out of bed in the morning if I didn’t own my horse. He is my best friend, the love of my life, and my #1 financial rule is that he gets whatever he needs, no matter what. He’s not exactly marketable; were I to give him up, he’d go to slaughter sooner or later. That’s unacceptable. So I structure my life – and my finances – in a way that most people would never want to bear. That’s my decision.

JD Wrote:

I’m an animal person, and am often amazed that I still eat meat. (That cognitive dissonance is a topic for another time.)

Actually, that statement shows a level of sophistication ahead of most people in our culture.

Especially since you like to make your own food, converting over should be easy. Each month, just pick one (more) day to be meatless.

The nutrition is actually easy, if you can get pointed to a good source and bypass the BS out there.

I’d like to suggest this BRIEF page in that regard:

http://beforewisdom.com/blog/?page_id=462

I like my dogs better than I like most people – most of the time, they’re better “people” than people are. They are more loving, more joyful, more adaptable and forgiving than humans generally. They are also completely helpless and dependent, even more so than children, who have many more advocates and safety nets than animals do. Yes they cost money, but everything costs money and some things add more value than others. (Isn’t that why people have kids?) Not to mention there is more to life than money; I don’t imagine Scrooge would have pets but I don’t aspire to be Scrooge myself.

That said, I would not have adopted them if I couldn’t afford them; that’s no more responsible than giving up a dog cuz he’s not a cute puppy anymore. Now my job is to remain in a position to afford them, whatever comes. There is probably a limit to how much I would spend on them, but it’s closely linked to quality of life. Why buy them a miserable few weeks? Why subject them to unpleasant treatments and tests they can never understand? (In a similar vein, why spend $$$ on cutesy accessories they won’t appreciate?) The same could be considered by a pet owner in dire financial straits; when the pet’s quality of life begins to deteriorate, you look for other solutions. There are better and worse other solutions; abandonment equals death, even at a shelter most of the time, while it is possible to rehome an animal into a decent situation. Personally I would have to be in pretty bad shape. My dogs were shelter dogs, and they’ve already been traumatized enough; the situation would have to be pretty awful before I’d consider doing that to them again.

I agree that dogs are not children. That’s why I have dogs.

Everyone of us has limits. I’m an animal lover, PETA supporter, and a vegetarian … but I gave up 2 cats last year. I adopted them 5 years ago and, despite being healthy, neutered and extremely well cared-for (their litter boxes were kept very clean), the cats continually sprayed the walls and floor. I tried every single suggestion I could find to train them but nothing worked. It broke my heart to give them up, but it broke my wallet to replace the drywall, floors and carpeting. The decision was very difficult but I know I did the right thing.

My cat just cost us $3000+ and took me from being able to spend a leisurely few months looking for a job while getting used to my new city to having to find a bridge job immediately. We had to compromise our apartment hunting due to practically no one in this area allowing pets. Without her, we could have gotten a much nicer apartment for much cheaper. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

The only time I would rehome my cat would be if it was in her best interest, and even then, she would go to one of my sisters who have the same pet philosophy that I do. High quality food, yearly vet visits, etc.

@ Ely #90 “I agree that dogs are not children. That’s why I have dogs.” Right on, my brother (or sister)! This is why I have cats!!

Re: pet healthcare, because the rest of the discussion is far too wide-ranging to cover everything, just my personal experience.

Ten years ago my cat, then about eight years old, began to have health troubles – primarily digestive, with some unpleasant, unhygienic consequences. I took him to the vet multiple times and they could only tell me it was an “idiopathic” condition (meaning, no one knew what was causing it). He had no parasites, he had no allergies, he had no traceable metabolic problems; he just couldn’t always hold his … you know.

BUT he didn’t appear to be in pain: wasn’t crying, was still playing, was affectionate, wasn’t losing weight.

After about six months though, his condition started to go downhill a little. He got quieter, less playful, started having trouble jumping up. More vet visits: still inconclusive.

Then, right before we were to go out of town for a week, I found him one morning with one pupil hugely, and unevenly, dilated. I knew this was a sign of a stroke, so instead of taking him to the boarding facility I took him to the vet. They determined he had a detached retina.

While we were out of town, the cat went to an opthalmologist, underwent a battery of tests, and I was told that he very likely had a brain tumor. I spent the rest of our trip knowing that I was probably going to have to euthanize him. It was awful.

Got home and after a week apart could really see just how sick and miserable he was. He was still happy to see us, but – and especially after the fact, looking at photos – he was just sick and hurting, and there was nothing we could do to fix it. So we took him to the vet, he was given the injection, and we held him till he died, peacefully.

Now, I know some people who would have spent countless dollars going through surgeries or whatever, trying to squeeze another few months of life. But would that have been a kindness? I believe not. It would not have cured him, only made his remaining time MORE painful and MORE miserable.

So yes. There are limits. And I trust that if I’m ever similarly in need, someone will be humane enough to pull the plug.

@69) Pavii, I know a person on welfare that has pets and actually the opposite is true. They prefer to stay home and care for their pets vs go outside and be with other human beings. And yes, I have an issue paying for someone’s pet when I choose not to take on that expense myself.

I’m amazed that no one has brought up the crazy cat lady from the simpsons. Some pet people are just socially awkward. The unconditional love they get from pets is just way easier than the work it takes to develop a relationship with a judgemental, opinionated human being.

Thank you J.D. for standing by your statement! At the beginning of the post it seemed as if you were gonna back down to these overly sensitive pet people. I understand the bond that owners share with their pets, but when it comes down to survival ANIMALS ARE NOT HUMAN! It would be more irresponsible for you to keep a pet you can’t take care of. Thanks J.D.

I almost replied to your original post with my opinion on pet ownership, but waited for this post instead. I’m a former pet owner who considers pets to be almost my children. I say “almost” because obviously I wouldn’t “put down” my children, though I considered it during their teenage years (joking!). In general I agree with the commenters who stated that pets are a responsibility like having children. You don’t just willy-nilly get rid of them as soon as they’re inconvenient. I off-road a lot and I can’t tell you the number of dogs — and dog corpses — we’ve found because some idiot decided that the formerly-cute-and-tiny puppy they picked up on a whim is now too big and rambunctious, and decided to drop them off in the middle of the desert “where they can be free”. Yeah, free to die of dehydration, starvation, or being ripped apart by coyotes. Jerks. (end rant)

That said, sometimes you simply can’t provide a quality life for a pet due to financial or other circumstances. I liken this to a woman who gets pregnant but for whatever reason simply can’t provide properly for the baby. In this instance, it’s better for the pet (or child) to be re-homed. I consider this to be no different than giving up the baby for adoption. You’re ensuring the best possible care for your “child” … in many cases much better than they would have had with you (tough to swallow, but true).

There are animal rescue groups who will help you re-home your pet. They are VERY thorough in whom they allow to adopt. The few times I’ve used them to place animals I’ve found abandoned, I’ve been very pleased. I’ve often checked up literally years later to find the pets are still in their placed homes and treated like royalty (one dog gets organic dog food, weekly grooming sessions, and has his own bedroom. I asked his “parents” if they would adopt me too).

And like adoptive parents who go through years of red tape before getting a child, anyone who jumps through these agencies’ necessary hoops in order to adopt your pet is *really* dedicated to the idea of pet ownership: it’s not an obligation, it’s a blessing.

A far more problematic issue is with chronically sick animals. As with special-needs children in foster care, few people want to adopt “someone else’s problem”. And even if you’re financially stable, these animals can wipe you out financially just as easily as a chronicially sick child could, but without the safety net of insurance or social assistance. With sick pets that feel like your children, where do you draw the line before you consider euthanizing?

I can only tell what I went through recently with my dog. He began to have seizures and a battery of tests couldn’t tell why. I asked the vet his opinion and he said it was likely the dog had a brain tumor (something common within his breed). The vet suggested an extremely expensive MRI. I chose not to do so. My reasoning was that if indeed it was a brain tumor, there was simply no way I could afford brain surgery or chemo or any of the other treatments anyway. If it wasn’t a brain tumor, I’d need yet more tests to maybe discover what the problem was. So I asked for medication that would help control the seizures, and monitored my dog for quality of life.

At first it would be several months between seizures, but near the end he had several each month. The final week, he had three back-to-back seizures and literally got lost in our back yard. It was obvious by his distressed barking that he had no idea where he was. What made it worse was that within a few hours, he was back to normal. I knew, though, that it would happen again, sooner rather than later. It wasn’t going to get any better. That’s when I made the very difficult decision to euthanize him.

Taking him to the vet to put him down was the worst thing I’ve ever done in my life. I still feel guilty because he seemed perfectly fine at that moment. And I feel like I failed him for choosing not to have the MRI (and probably surgery) because “it’s too expensive”. Logicially I know it was the right thing to do, and that I shouldn’t feel guilty for not going into debt for tens of thousands of dollars to possibly extend his life a few months or even a couple years … but because he was my baby, I do.

As an aside, I have vowed to never again own a pet. I can’t bear the idea of having to again make such a life-and-death decision, or living with the guilt of what-if’s afterward.

There is evidence that proto-humans began domesticating animals well before civilization emerged. When proto-dogs first began hanging around the campsites of hunter-gatherer tribes, the association between the humans and the animals probably resulted in increased survival benefits for both groups. Thus, the humans who were inclined to accept and nurture animals may have been more likely to survive and pass those inclinations on to future generations. It is possible that the tendency towards animal stewardship is coded into our DNA the same way that our brain chemistry is genetically programmed to cement the powerful bond between mother and infant at birth.

Perhaps evolution has contributed to our instinctual bonds with our pets. But evolution has also gifted (most of) us with reason, and reason can overcome instinct. A conflict at work may trigger my fight-or-flight response, but that doesn’t mean I’ll run to my car to escape or take a swing at my co-worker. Reason prevails.

All of us pet lovers should make financial decisions regarding our pets based on reason. Reason doesn’t discount emotion. Reason takes into account and assigns value to all of the factors surrounding the decision: our love for the animal (it may be a biological imperative, a genetically programmed instinctual function, but it’s still love!); what’s best for the animal’s welfare, both physically and emotionally; our own personal economic realities; the joy the animal brings to our lives; the physical and emotional benefits of pet ownership for the humans (lower blood pressure, an excuse to exercise, and the alleviation of depression symptoms are clinically proven results of pet ownership); our personal values; our personal view of the responsibilities of pet ownership; our family situation, and anything else that’s pertinent.

With so many factors involved, it’s no wonder we come to so many different decisions! And clearly it’s an emotional issue, in part because our DNA is telling us we must love and protect these animals. But we can’t expect to impose our personal values on other people. What’s right for you may not be right for someone else.

Moogie – in case you were unaware, animals need preventative care visits just the same as people do. Based on the average cat’s lifespan, you not taking your cat to the vet for 11.75 years would be the equivalent of you not visiting a doctor yourself from kindergarten to retirement. I don’t think the people taking their cats to the vet regularly are the ones ‘****ing up’ their animals…

watched the cat video, too cute…just thought maybe that’s why you’ve had so many computer problems!! :o)

Wow. I can see how this topic really does touch a nerve. I don’t know where that line is for me, but I grew up in a family where dogs would have been one of the last things to go, and I still feel that way. I would down-size my home before I’d give up my dog. Would I go homeless before I gave up my dog? Probably not. I want him to be happy and well taken care of.

What was upsetting about suggesting the friend give up his dogs was that he was willing to pay a hefty rent and bought four expensive toys that needed to go before the dogs would. In my opinion.

I’ve given up both pets AND a human child, because I was in dire straits and could not afford either (both were different situations about 10 years apart). Both cases were dire cases, and none of it was due to me living financially irresponsible (I’ve always been very frugal and careful with my money, and spent very little and tried to save as much as possible, but I’ve had a LOT of very bad luck my entire life).

In both cases, I put the needs of the child and the animals above my own wants or desires, and found excellent adoptive homes that had the money, the stability, and above all, the love for both animals and human child. In all cases, all animals and child thrived, and it was a *much* better scenario for every single soul involved than if I had kept any of them.

This anti-adoption view that so many people have bugs me. Re-homing is NOT a crime, nor is re-homing always traumatic. In many cases, re-homing pets (and even humans) is the BEST thing possible for everyone involved.

(side note: ever since things went super-downhill for me, I have not had pets. I never obtained a pet in hard financial times. The same with children: I would NEVER willingly have a kid if I could not afford to care for him/her in the very best way possible).

When I see the pit bull dog on the nearby street corner with his homeless owner I’m always amazed at the lengths that guy goes to in order to keep his dog. Then I think about how selfish some people are that just give away or abandon their pets for superficial reasons. People in third world countries that live in poverty manage to have kids and even sometimes pets. Yet people in this country give up a kid for adoption because they are too young, or send the family dog/cat to the humane society because they no longer fit their lifestyle. It’s selfish if you ask me, and it happens more often than most people think. Just look at the craigslist section of pets if you don’t believe me; it’s very sad.

When you adopt a pet you are making a commitment to see that animal is taken care of. There is always a way, even if you are homeless. At the very least a person should see to it that the animal goes to a good family, and not abandoned or taken to a kill shelter. As for those who would argue that the poor dog with the homeless guy has a bad life- well he probably gets a lot more attention and does a lot more things than your average house dog that is lucky to get 1 walk around the block per day.

JD, I very much enjoyed the YouTube video you posted. Toto reminds me of my black cat Libel. He lays on my and my husband’s laptops constantly. They look almost identical, except Libel has giant yellow eyes. They remind me of an owl.

Thank you for writing this post. It clarifies a lot of what your first comment implied.

We should all consider these things when we go to adopt or buy a pet. We should ask ourselves, “What would happen if I lost my job? Would I be able to give up the pet without it breaking my heart?” I personally couldn’t give up my cats. They’re my babies, as close to children as I’ll ever get.

But I also have to recognize that I would have to do what’s best for them. If both me and my husband lost our jobs and absolutely could not afford to take care of our cats the way they deserve to be cared for, I would have to give them up. I’d try my hardest to find a home with a friend so we could still see them, but you have to do what’s best for you and the cats.

Good luck with Toto! I wish her the best!

I pose this question: What’s better for the pet – to keep it through ones own major life struggles, where the pet may undergo unnecessary suffering, or to find the pet a more stable home environment (temporarily or permanently) where it might have a better life?

I’d argue that, like children, pets deserve consideration for being relocated for their benefit and similarly, that it’s SELFISH to KEEP the pet when you can’t even take care of yourself. If I was ever in a position where I had to face such a decision, I only hope that I would have the strength of character needed to admit that my kids or my pets deserved more than I could give, and I could let them go with a clear conscience.

JD,
Sorry to hear about Toto, I hope you find the answer or somehow Toto “tells” you what she wants when the time comes.

I somewhat know how you feel, I’ve had my lab since he was a puppy. He’s been with me through the worst times (layoff, divorce) of my life and now the best (remarriage, birth of my son). He’ll be 10 next month. Occasionally I think about when he’s gone and it’s hard even then. He’s a lot like Toto, just there with me wherever I go. He’s quickly become a good buddy to my son as well.

There’s one more thing (opinion) I want to add to this, and it’s in connection with no-kill shelters and the relative rarity of good ones.

If you have to give up a pet, and if you honestly, after Herculean efforts, can’t get it into a good no-kill shelter or other “re-homing” situation, I think the most ethical thing to do is to take the animal to a vet and have it humanely euthanized.

Far better for an animal to die in your arms listening to your voice (the hearing is the last thing to go) than to be dropped off at a county animal-control office to be warehoused in a wire crate with other terrified animals before being shoved into a box and gassed or asphyxiated.

Not all euthanization is humane, is what I’m saying, and if you are in such extremity that no other solution is possible, suck it up and look in that animal’s eyes as long as you can.

So animals aren’t people? SO WHAT? That’s specism right there. People aren’t automatically more deserving of anything just because they’re people.

I would treat my pet like it was my kid and make decisions based on that. Would I give up my kid if they were in a bad financial position or if they had high hospital costs? Never. If they were at the end of their life and high medical costs would only prolong their life for a short period, in both cases I would let them end their life gracefully without going such pain and struggle so that’s what I’d do for my pet. If I was in a bad financial position, I’d sell what I can, live super cheaply and even go on welfare (if I was in such a bad position I couldn’t pay the small costs of owning an animal).

Their value as my friends and loved ones is infinitely more important than any material possession or biological difference there may be. I get different values and if people want to give up their pets to good homes, whatever but I would have less respect for them as a pet owner as it is just proof that they don’t care enough to truly love them.

I am glad that I don’t on any pets, they are just too much to handle

JD, great article followed by a great discussion.

Reading these comments reminds me of two other GRS core tenets: Do What Works For You and The Perfect Is The Enemy Of The Good.

The key to this first tenet is that whatever you decide to do with your money with regard to your pet has to work. At the heart of this discussion people have put forth ideas and suggestions that they feel will work for them. The ultimate test would be falling on hard times and seeing if their approach still works.

For instance, one reader commented that if placed in a difficult financial situation his pets would eat before he would. I can confidently say that that approach would not work for me, but if that is the approach that gets him through the financial hardship then it works and I can’t fault it.

I would be disappointed if any GRS reader took any approach that exacerbated their situation and the benefit of this discussion has been that we have been able to table a whole array of options that would probably work for many people.

The key to the second tenet is that while we all probably want a perfect solution for what we should do with our pets in hard times we run the risk of avoiding good solutions even if they aren’t perfect.

For instance, taking your pet to a shelter is certainly not a perfect solution, but it is good solution and one that would work.

Looking again at the discussion very few approaches are perfect and some would not work for me. So I think we should use the collective wisdom to pursue good options that will work and be wary of waiting for the perfect option that won’t.

I saw people being in financial trouble, who have given up to look for work or any means to make money and put their head under a pillow. People with animals tried even harder, as they felt the responsibility to buy food for their pets. They were willing to do almost anything to make money and also they went to restaurants and food stores asking for food for their pets. This kept them going. About one young man I know that he was offered a job as a waiter and he only was asking for some leftovers for his dog.

Basically, as long as you don’t demand that others support you because you have chosen to acquire one or more pets, then I don’t care how you prioritize.
But if you like off borrow money that you can’t pay back then you better get rid of those animals and other fixed expenses right away.
Animals are not humans. We eat them and use them for hard labor. Just because some animals look more cute than others doesn’t mean that they should have same legal protection as children.

The child/pet comparison argument is interesting. Regardless of the order you prioritise them, both children and pets are your dependents and you are responsible for their welfare. It’s not a perfect world and stuff happens but animals AND people must remain among your top priorities.

Last year, I was in a tremendously bad financial situation, with both breadwinners having lost their job and on the verge of losing our home. At the same time, my pet cat, Winston aka Winnie (also born in 1994), whom I had some sort of soul kinship that was, I imagine, much like the one you share with Toto, was getting noticeably thin. I put off taking him to the vet, knowing that I had to use the money to make the mortgage payment. Finally, I cashed out the very last of my investments and took him to the vet.
He talked me into giving him some tests, which added up to a whopping $600. A lot to someone in my situation.
It turned out he had developed diabetes.
A month later, my financial situation improved, and he was doing much better. Four months later, he wasn’t so patient with the insulin injections anymore, and actually seemed to be getting worse. We went back to the vet again, and my vet, who had previously always said “Let’s get him better and give him a few more healthy years,” said, “We might need to explore several options.” The problem was that, against all of his other health issues, the diabetes was the one most likely to kill him, so there was no stopping that treatment. The starting cost for investigating the severity of his other health conditions was $2,000. I would have gladly paid it, but we really didn’t know which of his health issues was interfering with the treatment for diabetes, so it came down to quality of life. In November 2009, though, his balance was severely off, he was throwing up constantly, he wasn’t eating, and he spent almost all his time hiding in my closet.
So, here’s where the question of “How much is enough?” comes up. I think, especially in a situation like this, the animal’s quality of life has to be considered. He didn’t have much of one. So I made the heart-and-gut-wrenching decision to euthanize him. Even without considering the financials, the stress of taking care of a sick animal that can’t tell you what’s wrong with him is difficult. And I imagine it’s no picnic for them either. My vet, who had previously been in favor of doing everything possible to extend a animal’s life, had recently changed his opinion to also value the quality of life of the human owner. I wish I had been able to save him and keep him by my side for a few more years, but I just didn’t want to subject him to endless car rides, visits to the vet, trying different kinds of medication (you know how hard it is to medicate a cat!), and so forth. In the end, we chose to release him from his suffering. I do still wonder, though, if I had just spent the money to take him to the vet sooner, would he still be by my side now?

I doubt you are as strong of an animal person as you suggest. If you were you’d understand that once you take an animal in they are family. You, however, make a distinction where there shouldn’t be one. Namely, between family and pets.

Sure, there are circumstances where you might have to give an animal up that you voluntarily took the responsibility of caring for. That reality, however, often applies to people as well. For instance, often times parents need to give children up because they can’t care for them properly. Yet, that should always be a last resort. If you can give something else up first, that is what you do. With pets that is even more important because you often are condemning that animal to death when you abandon your responsibility.

Many years ago, I was sent to Hong Kong on a deal. One evening, the head of our local office took me and the rest of the team to dinner at a leading restarant, which was known for it’s authentic cuisine. Our host took it upon himself to order for all of us ‘foreign devils’. When the dishes began to arrive, like the good host he was, he told us the name of the dish and described it. He particularly enjoyed referring to the fried dog dish, which I guess he ordered just to see some of us squirm. I was too squeamish to try it but our host later told me that it was delitious.

Strangely, your article reminded me of that incident.

Your article also made me think of something else: At a nearby park, its common to see the local matrons out walking their fluffy lapdogs. Seeing that always make me think that those pampered pets must live better than many of the kids growing up in our inner city areas. I ask myself: Why is that? Why is a yapping mutt worth more than a child?

Sadly, many of us embrace our pets as if they were members of the family, showering them with unearned love. Yet pets are, in reality, little more than parasites – they live at our expense; they flourish to our detriment.

So maybe, just maybe, my erstwhile host had the right idea of how to deal with pets!

i understand that a pet is a 2000 a year commitment. pets have to have annual shots and exams and tooth cleaning. pets age and will require elderly medical care. i have a freedom account/sinking fund for predictable/annual vet expenses.

Tiffany;

As any shelter volunteer will tell you the problem is often not survival. Very few people face starvation or homelessness because of their pets.

Many pets are abandoned out of inconvenience or boredom.

Aside from having feelings like we do, many of the animals abandoned are not well adapted to surviving in the (lack of) environment where they are left. They are left to dying of exposure and starvation.

For example, many people get tired of domesticated rabbits and abandon them in parks thinking they will be fine. Domesticated rabbits have been bred for so long they have no ability to survive, even in places where wild rabbits can. They freeze, they starve, they die.

If my finances were dire, I’d do what I could to keep my 2 cats, but eventually I’d look for someone else to adopt them. I would probably sell off almost all my possessions and move somewhere smaller and cheaper first, but there is a point where you have to admit you can no longer care for animal adequately. In the case of your friend with the dogs, he should be living in the smaller cheap space, and his family should be spending most of their free time walking the dogs! That’s a reasonable compromise to me.

When our cat was sick, we made the decision to cut off the care at a certain point. The point was predetermined, which I think is essential, b/c you start to lose sight of other important things when your emotions are going crazy. It wasn’t just for our finances, but also for the cat’s quality of life, so we had the vet put her down when she required surgery, not to mention a lifetime of medication, and she was young. I also argued that there are more cats out there that need homes, and we could help one of them when we got a new one. We loved that cat very much, but she wasn’t a human being.

JD – that’s precisely the reason why I never leave my laptop open!

I’m unemployed, haven’t worked since the new year (was on sick leave and then voluntarily quit my terrible job), but I’ve had an income from Employment Insurance. I have 2 cats and a 1 bedroom apartment. I can’t even imagine how depressed I would be if I lost my cats (I already am in treatment for depression and anxiety). I don’t have kids and never want any. My cats are my kids. They don’t cost me much now, as they are young and are indoor cats. If something happens where I really could no longer afford to feed them, I would find a friend or family member to take care of them before I’d rehome them to a stranger. I can’t imagine living without them.

Your pets eat meat, so why can’t you? Would you judge your cats for eating meat?
Being a vegetarian is a fine choice, but please don’t try to make it into a “holier than thou” proposition.

As another poster pointed out, many times there is not a responsible no-kill solution available. I would add to that that even if a solution appears to be “no-kill”, it is not necessarily so.

In many if not most areas of the US, unwanted animals are getting killed every day. People delude themselves when they think that there is no negative impact when they find another home for their animal.

The reality is not really so formulaic, but to illustrate, if there are 50 available homes (1 animal each) and 100 animals needing homes, 50 animals die. If someone decides their pet would be better off elsewhere, they have added to the numbers of animals that need homes. Now there are 101 animals needing homes, still just 50 homes, and 51 animals die.

Sure maybe they found one of those homes for their animal, and they go on with their lives feeling all responsible and pro-animal, but somewhere out there another animal has died because of their decision.

Again, this is just an illustrative example – the real world is more complex, but in general if you take an available home to rehome your pet, that is one less home that all the other unwanted animals can compete for.

So that understanding, for me, is why it hurts and makes me mad to hear people cavalierly suggest finding a new home for a pet as a solution to problems. Their decision is based on the false belief that if they find a new home, no one gets hurt.

The truth is, if someone chooses to do that, they likely were responsible for another animal’s death and didn’t even know it.

But I know it and that’s why I have trouble being civil to such people or allowing them to keep their delusions of responsibility without at least shining a light on their (willful?) ignorance.

@35 Jason: Did you ever buy food based on taste, rather than nutrition? Shame on you; kids are starving. Have you ever bought a newspaper? They’re wasteful and disposable. You should have bought a book for a poor kid. Ever bought shoes that weren’t crucial to your survival, but looked nice or felt cushy? Selfish clod. Why won’t you think about the bloody feet of the poor shoeless children?

Oh, and by the way, while you’ve been spending your money on your morally superior life, I’ve been spending mine to undo the damage to my cat perpetrated by the sick bastard who thought it was fun to kick her around like a football.

Regarding putting an animal down, I think it’s kind of common sense: Are they in pain and will it not get better? Yes, put them out of their misery. They will thank you for it (if they could I believe). Will they get better if you can afford their treatment? Then do it.Would they get better if you could afford it, but can’t? I don’t know the answer to that except to look around at every option you have–maybe some of your commentators have already touched upon this subject. I just know that my pets are with me for life, seriously. If times became really bad (and I know they can for some people), personally, I would feed them and get them medical attention over me…much like I would do if they were my child. Same thing. Pets and children are both dependent upon their parents. That is why it is very important to think things through before you have either. And, if you have a pet (as in stray that needs a home) or child and didn’t plan for it, you make do. Somehow.

Just so long as you and vet fully grasp that, more often than not, getting rid of the pet means that pet is going to die. Only when I could literally no longer both feed myself and my cats would I consider that a viable option.

Where do you draw the line on when enough financial support for the pet is enough. Do you spend $8K on cancer treatment for your dog or not?

We all make choices in life and if we choose to have a pet then they become a responsibility. All of us go thru money issues at some point in their life and with everything we must cut back. But the emotional anguish of giving up a beloved pet for me is just too overwhelming.

Cut back other areas…there are always choices. But I believe pets are a responsibility.

Mark

I hate the dogs who are currently living in my home.
I did not grow up with dogs or other pets, but when my husband and children wanted a dog, I went along with it. We first took in the elderly dog of a friend who had cancer, loved her for two years, and adopted a puppy when the first dog died, loving her for another 14 years. Like a lot of puppies, she did silly things, like eating the kitchen floor, and not so silly thing, like destroying a handmade quilt that I had labored over. Still, when we put her down to spare her any further pain in her old age, I thought that we were through with dogs — only one child left at home, we were now free to travel and do things that we could not previously.
Unfortunately, four days after our dog died, our youngest got her psychologist to declare that she NEEDED a dog and another puppy appeared. Then my husband decided that the puppy needed a companion and took in a rescue dog. Then my son returned to town with two dogs he could not keep in his apartment.
Let me stress that NONE of these four dogs was adequately trained. The amount of damage they have done to the furniture is incalculable — put that into your calucus as well. And I returned from spending five weeks at my mother’s deathbed to find that they had been allowed to destroy all my gardens as well.
I feel that the family has chosen the dogs over me. Although two of them have moved on to other homes, we are stuck with the other two. I have told my husband that he needs to make arrangements for his dog, because if he dies it will be the first thing to go. I am not a cruel person, but I am not a pet person, do not see the sense of treating dogs as if they were amusing but naughty children, and INFINTELY prefer my house and my gardens to these small creatures.

Personally, I would have to be in some SERIOUS financial trouble before I would even consider giving up my dog (serious as in… living out of a car, foraging for my own food in the park and bathing only when it rains and isn’t too cold). But, at the same time, assuming more ordinary financial troubles are a temporary state, I would have no problem downsizing where I lived to a place I could better afford, even if it meant my dog would be a bit crowded. I would try to compensate for that discomfort with longer walks and such when I’m home, but imo pets, like people, don’t need PERFECT living arrangements to be okay, especially when, hopefully, that not-great situation will improve soon. In my perspective, dogs are pretty happy just to be around their people, go for walks and be fed and played with. They can be temporarily cramped a little bit, imo.

When it comes to caring for a pet during an illness, I would say that finances definitely do play a role, especially if the chance of your pet improving and going on to live many more years is low. There is also the issue of how much a pet is suffering and such. In many cases, euthanasia is not only the more financially sound choice, it is the kindest choice too. (however… I do think pet owners have a responsibility to routinely bring their pets to the vet and to take care of more minor/non-life threatening health issues, which can nonetheless cause discomfort and pain).

I would give up just about anything before I gave up my dog. It is my opinion that a lot of people who get a pet and then say they “can’t afford” it really mean that they don’t want to. Yes, there are people who lose their jobs and use up their savings trying to live, but they aren’t as numerous in my life as the people who decided that the dog was a luxury less appealing than the iPod.

When people keep luxuries and dump their pets, I think less of them. If I saw them making sacrifices before finally deciding that they cannot afford a quality life for their pet, I would think better of them.

A dog/cat will be in your life for 15+ years; if you don’t have an emergency fund and a commitment to keeping it as best you can, you should never get one. I don’t believe in spending my last dime trying to eke out an animal’s life, but I do believe that pet ownership is a privilege that too many people take for granted.

Nice article, JD!

Interestingly, I didn’t think your comments in the last article meant they needed to *give up* their dogs, just that they needed to move into a place that didn’t seem entirely dog-friendly. People make their kids bunk up in financially hard times… some families even end up with someone on the couch… I don’t see a problem doing something similar with dogs, IF it’s temporary and the owner makes the effort to go to the dog park or otherwise get their dog some space to move around every day. But, our dogs are not kids, no matter how much we like to think of them that way. If anyone had to chose between the well being of their child (or their child’s future… like college) and giving away their dog, I certainly hope they’d chose the child.

I’m looking for work, temporarily living in an extremely small space (studio apartment sized), am currently unemployed, and have 2 dogs (one largish, one small). At this point, I wouldn’t give up my dogs because by giving up other unnecessary expenses I can afford them… and there’s tons of space outside for them to stretch out. But, if any health issues arise, there’s no way I could afford it (I have paid out huge chunks of money in the past — one of my dogs had a broken back and a year of physical therapy — but my current unforeseen situation prevents me from doing anything like that now). Given the age of my oldest dog, I harbor a lingering concern about the possibility. If that time comes, it’ll be hard, but I *will* be making the decision to give him to someone who is willing and able to provide a better life for him — for both of our sakes. If I can’t find someone? I don’t know what I’ll do, but I can’t see cutting truly necessary expenses (like health insurance).

A couple of years ago, I had a friend with two dogs and no health insurance for himself or his family (even though he could get it through his employer by paying a portion). Like your friend, he also had an expensive cell phone (etc) and two dogs. When his kid got sick, he took her to the emergency room because he couldn’t afford a visit to the doctor’s office. Of course, he couldn’t afford the emergency room charges, either, but they’ll give medical care regardless. Every one of us gets to pay for his choices in higher costs. It’s hard not to judge.

I would never give up my border collie for any amount of money or poverty. She isn’t JUST a pet, she’s my family. You are correct that pets aren’t people but I can tell you for a fact that I value the life of my dog over that of another person.

It really, really, really bothers me, at a deep level, when people view their pets as disposable. I don’t begrudge people who give up their pets for legitimate reasons, who are really in the most dire of straits or can’t physically care for their pets. But if ONLY the people in the most dire of straits gave up their pets, shelters would have no problem rehoming that many. The thing that galls me is that people give up their pets when it’s not dire, but simply inconvenient.

If you are this type of person, who would give up a pet simply because it’s become inconvenient, DON’T GET A PET.

I feel that getting a pet is a lifelong commitment. Because that animal is completely dependent on you, and while people may think they’ve found a good home or the shelter will find a good home, THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH GOOD HOMES FOR EVERY UNWANTED ANIMAL. That’s why so many animals are put to sleep in shelters every single day. Human irresponsibility.

You cannot 100% control what’s going to happen to the pet after you relinquish it. Stories abound about people rehoming horses with a “nice” person who find out later the horse was sold to slaughter. You may think the shelter will find your sweet Fido a great home but when they do a temperment test, find that Fido is food aggressive and not adoptable, and puts him to sleep.

And people should know, going in, that they cost money, not only in basics like food and vet bills, but they also cost time. You need to clean kitty’s box every day, talk your dog for a walk every day.

It bothers me when friends who rent get a dog. Cats are a different story. Cats can live happily indoors, cats are usually tolerated by most landlords. Where I live, it’s exceptionally difficult to find housing that allows dogs, and what is available tends to be expensive. When their situation changes, a breakup happens, etc… suddenly they realize how much more complicated they made their lives by getting a dog. And sometimes they have to give it up to be able to get affordable housing. It’s unfair to the dog.

I understand that not everyone feels the way I do about pets or animals. I get it. That’s fine. Just don’t get pets. Problem solved!

I don’t feel bad about the money I spend on my dogs because I have chosen not to have children. So even when another unexpected vet bill comes along, or the price for flea preventative goes up again, we just sigh and say “They’re still cheaper than kids!” My dogs enhance my life in ways that money alone cannot buy, so it is justified to me.