For cats

This topic is perfect for what happened to me today. My 3 dogs started barking like crazy because a starved, adolescent, male, purebred, Boxer was at our back door. It was emaciated and completely covered in fleas. It had no tags and only a choke chain for a collar. I talked gently to it, petted it, tied it up, gave it water and food. Poor thing, it was so happy to get the attention.
There is no way we can take care of any other pets so I had to find someone to care for this dog. I called the local animal control and the one that used to take care of our area but their offices were closed (on a Friday – a weekday, go figure). Then I called the sheriffs dept and they weren’t interestd, said it wasn’t their responsiblity.
After callling friends who didn’t know of anyone interested, I thought of a very responsible woman who lives in a nearby neighborhood. As I was walking the dog over there to her house, a man called out and told me where the owners live in an apratment who happen to live right next door to the house where I was taking the dog. But I first showed the dog to the responsible pet owner so that seh could keep an eye on the situation in the future and then we walked the dog toward the owners’ apartment.
The man just stood on his doorstep, completely uninvolved and the woman came out, acting all happy to see her dog, petting it, saying how she’d been calling animal shelters to find it. I noted right away that her hair had been professionaly color treated, she had arecent manicure and pedicure and nice department store looking clothes/shoes.
I was so angry I could hardly see straight and I spit out "Your dog is just skin and bones!" She answered, "He eats all the time." Her neighbor, the responsible pet owner was much more tactful than I was and began nicely educating the dog’s owner. I was so angry, I knew that if I stayed one more minute, I was going to say something I would regret so I said I had to leave.
These are the kind of people who do not deserve to own animals, not people like us who struggle every month to pay the bills, live in a house that rich people wouldn’t be caught dead in, and drive beat up old cars. All the posts that I’ve read that have talked about morals being the issue not money were right on!

I suppose this is a response to annegirl’s first post. After reading a hundred or so posts, it seems clear alot of folks believe in that same theory. My being raised in a "poor" family guides me to hope people who want pets but can’t afford your ideals, can continue to adopt and raise their pets. I can show you an example of a horse vet who is far above "middle class". She continually starved and neglected their health to the point of death. They were finally and thankfully taken from her by a local county animal control. She was able to get away with it for so long because of her "upper middle class" status. In the same conversation I can show you a neighbor who fosters horses and brings them back from near death with little or no vet help. She cares about the animals so much she drives an old truck and eats basic foods to make ends meet. She had trouble with neighbors in "upper middle class" status complaing the horses were an eyesore. The wonderful people built brick homes next to her property and decided she has no right to take care of the animals. These animals would be put down with out her. In fact she took three from the local county for care in exchange for horse feed donations.
It is amazing that someone from Texas has such a closed mind towards those darn "poor" people. I am by no means wealthy. I pray for a comfortable life and no more than what God gives me. I will hope that the economy doesn’t take a worse turn. It seems the same opinion dictates people should be turning their animals over to a shelter, hopefully none of the "wealthy’ people with the same opinion as annegirl are affected by it.
Annegirl, I believe you started this thread to be antagonistic. This is the reason I seem so harsh. This is a public forum and the disregard for people with limited resources seems to be a terrible topic to support. I pray you and others change your opinion. You seem the perfect example of the 1929 Wallstreet tycoons who jumped from buildings rather than be a "poor" person. Pray you never become "poor".

OMG what now poor folks are going to be regulated on if they can have a pet?????????? I am on a fixed income and no i done have $1000 spare change floating around but i deserve a pet just as much as you do if not more! my pet is like a therapy pet for my son he is 10 and has aspergers syndrome (austism). i dont think you can say hey if you cant afford the finest there is then you cant or shouldnt get a pet. gee thats kinda like saying wait til we have enough money then we will have a kid! its the same thing. No most folks dont budget to have kids nor do they budget to have pets, and just because you can afford the finest of everything doesnt make YOU a responsible pet owner! it doesnt even make YOU a better person to have a pet than me. I really dont believe someone even came up with that recycled dog food of a question!

If the expense of owning a dog is a major concern, I would have to say, don’t get a dog. The reason I say this is simple, if the dog gets sick and a major vet bill should arise, you may have to go without in order to take care of your pet. On the otherhand, sacrafice can be a blessing sometimes. I think we put too much stock in money sometimes and not enough on things that really matter. Pets are companions, they fill spots in our lives that no thers can.
I have been poor. I am still poor. I would like nothing more than to have a pet today. It is not the money that keeps me from having a pet, I live with others that do not want pets. So, this is how I feel that void in my life for now. Reading about others and remembering "When."
I might add. If it is that another pet would do, I would look into that avenue. I have had all types of pets, dogs, cats, snakes, rats, mice, gerbals, fish, hamsters, a opposum, lizards, and frogs. The fish were fun to look at but they resented being taken out of the water and hugged. (Just joking) If I had to pick which pet supplied the most to me, I would have to say, hands down, a rat!
Don’t laugh, I am serious. Dogs do bond with their owners but they will survive with what you supply back to them in affection. A rat will bond with you also but much more than any animal I have ever had or know of. The downside, they don’t live long. The books say about 2-3 years but I have had a couple that lived 5 years. Ignore a pet rat and it will stop eating, get depressed, and will die.
Just an idea. But if a dog is your answer, I say go for it. Just make sure you do not let it bring your family to financial ruin.
Jokenda

There are so many circumstances to consider…. there are thousands of people with pets who have had them for a long time, long before this recession started… so what are they to do, give their dog up to a rich person? I’m not trying to be sarcastic here, but both rich, and poor people have had Dogs and pets for hundreds of years, and have managed just fine…
I do however think, if you are very poor, you should think twice before adopting a dog, think about the cost of food, training, vet bills. I would think that if someone is very poor, or having a hard time aking it, I doubt very seriously they are thinking of adopting a pet, they are too busy thinking of where they will get the money to buy food and pay bills for their family.
I have a 3 year old Yellow Lab, I adopted him from a breeder when he was 8 weeks old… he is my sweetie, and I love him dearly… he is a part of my family, and I treat him as such… when he needs to go to the Vet, I take him….he eats a very good quality dog food, and has many many toys..of course I can afford to care for him , and if he were to get very ill, I wouldnt hesitate to have him treated, and make payments if I had to…
The decision to have a dog put down is very tough… when we are so close to our pets we sometimes do not see how much they are suffering, and we only think of our own heartache of losing them.. That happend twice to me, and I learned a very valuable lesson….. I spent a few thousand dollars to try and save my Doberman year ago, and he ended up being put down shortly after that… all the surger he had, and all the money I spent gave him a few extra miserable months of life……….I grieved over that dog for a very long time… had his pictures in my wallet to show everyone.. they all thought I was weird, but I loved my dogs so much, and now I have my yellow Lab who is 3 and I would do everything I could to keep him alive, but I would never spend thousands of dollars again knowing his quality of life would not be so good ………
we must think of them and not only ourselves and our feelings… so there is a lot to consider when adopting a dog

i was going to get pet insurance but when i found out that they
had a lot of restrictions because the breed i didn’t get it. i’m a senior citizen and i have 2 wonderful dogs , they are 9 and 10 years old. believe me , i’m on a limited income but i will go with out my meds to make sure my dogs get what they need. my toy is having acl problems and i am going to cash in my savings bonds to help pay for surgery. these dogs gave me so much love over the years i will do my best to make their old age as comforable as i can. my other dog is going for allergy testing because of his skin. my vet has done all he can for the past 6 months , meds special food, all kinds of skin products and he said to get the test done. he doesn’t do the tests. i don’t know what i will do if the time comes when it’s impossible for me to continue their care.