I’m not sure if we do. My question is who decides what is adequate care? There are some people who aren?t ?animal? people. They don?t understand the responsibility of having something that depends on them to provide for their every need. Heck, some people have a hard time keeping drinking water out for their dog? WATER. Meanwhile some people seem to blur the line between animals and humans. I know people who take their dogs to the vet more often than their kids go to the doctor. They buy the best dog food for their dog then throw happy meals to their kids in the back seat. When they get home they eat somewhat normal food while the kids eat ?kid? food. This is a personal pet peeve of mine-no pun intended. Everything should be balanced, I don?t have a problem with people looking at it this way as long as they don?t get carried away BUT, dogs are not kids. People are different, we are conscious of our mortality. Even with money taken out of the equation prolonged and risky cancer treatment may not be the best route for the dog. They are driven by the instinct to survive but don?t know what death is. Are we doing this for the dog or are we doing it for us out of love for the animal and the memory of what once was. I had to have my Mastiff put down and at the time I realized that I had been selfish. I hated myself for not having it done sooner. That sounds weird to a lot of people but the last nine months of his life he was miserable. I won?t make that mistake again.

>?Thank God… because everyone should feel loved, and a companion animal is >sometimes all that somebody has.?
Good point! My question is still who decides what adequate care is. I worry about property rights eroding into a soupy mess of inconsistent bureaucratic gobble de gook (that?s french). Dogs are property, and as such, their owners should be given every benefit of the doubt as far as making decisions about their care. Some very bad things will no doubt result, but the alternative is to abandon our individual rights because of someone else?s bad behavior. Beside the fact that there are enough old ladies with 400 cats in their house, puppy mills, and dog fighting groups to keep them busy for the next fifty years.

Schooner – I agree, those on the lower fringes of income sometimes need the companionship of a pet more than others, for mental health reasons. That has been documented by many medical and mental health studies. And the Org I volunteer with helps seniors and others when the need arises, if WE have the funds. Bergen, my condolences on having to euthanize your Mastiff. I agree 100%, there is a time when it is a quality of life issue. I could have allowed my 18 yr old blind cat to get lost multiple times a day – in his OWN BASKET – the fear and panic in his yowls when that happened was heartbreaking. I discussed it with my vet, ‘what is it like for him, to ‘be lost’ hourly?’ As his friend, I could not put him through that. I do not treat my pets as ‘children’. They aren’t. They are pets, they think like cats and dogs. I talk ‘baby talk’ to them, my dog and I dance, but they are not ‘just like people’. For Bergen – ‘who decides what is adequate care’? Your local animal control and municipality. And I thank God they do. I help draft a few ordinances. Because a certain segment of our society refuse to take responsibility for their pets and their children (at times). Unfortunate, but it happens. If everyone was a responsible pet owner, there wouldn’t be hundreds of thousands of animals put to death because there are not enough homes for them. If a cat is spayed/neutered, vaccinated, fed a consistent diet and kept INDOORS, they live lone healthy lives.

I agree with Gonty that I totally want to let this go but here I am posting again!:) Schooner, I think you make some great points but I do want to note that no one on here said that only upper class people should own pets. And no one on here said that anyone should not euthanize a pet if it isn’t warranted. I read a post on craigslist that kind of sums up my feelings. It said to the effect of "my boyfriend and I bought a kitten and then it died. I want to surprise him with a new kitten. I have no money to spend so it would have to be for free." I thought, if you can’t afford $25 adoption fee than how in the world can you afford basic care! It felt selfish to me, that she wants the love and companionship of an animal but she may or may not be able to provide the basic necessities in return. She basically wanted someone to donate a pet to her boyfriend. Not to mention I wonder why the other kitten died! To me, it is taking responsibility of a living creature. I agree that animals are not children, but I am just trying to compare it too something. I just wish that people would really consider the responsiblity involved in having a pet. It isn’t just about cuddling and playing. It is a responsibility to that living thing to provide.

Actually, RK, Anne’s initial question referenced the classes and my response was to that. I did note that the discussion to follow did not refer to classes and income so much as priorities and the necessity to attend basic needs as well as the ability to "cough up the dough" when your pet becomes sick. My point was that people who don’t have enough money to feed and clothe themselves, much less put a roof over there head can still be wonderful pet owners and have ways offered to them to help when the need arises.

In toms words, and one more thing…! I promise I will try to stop with these last words. Schooner, if that is what you meant, then yes, we disagree on some level. I do not believe that people who cannot take care of themselves should take on the added responsibility of a pet under the assumption that some one out there can assist with the care. Making the decision to adopt a pet is a commitment and responsibilty that goes beyond love. But for the sake of closing on a positive note, I just want to tell everyone I love my cat and she is the best cat in the world! 🙂

Schooner and RK, are you both mentally challenged? I mean that in the MOST respectful of ways…lol… How the two of you can go on and ON… At this point I think we ALL understand one another and have the "low down" on what a responsible dog owner should do for their pet… There are variations of opinions here, which IS the nature OF an opinion…however the "jest" of it has similarities. We all hear ya’all…your points are HEARD… can we move on now? Will you find satisfaction in eachother’s responses or is there more REITERATION to be done? Lol… Have you heard the expression, "Beating a dead horse"? This horse died many many pages ago…do you not see it laying there on the ground with glazed over eyes???? …Just like the glazed over eyes of us loyal posters…?! Lmao! So very, very funny… 😀 😀 😀

I agree with gonty — how much political correctness do we need here?

Clearly you should not be spending your money on an animal if you don’t have it — you are not doing your animal any favors — besides — have you ever noticed that is is the lower income bracket that tend to have 5 cats and rotweillers, german sheppards and dobermans? I have yet to see an inner city family with shitzu.