Dear Dave,
My wife and I are both in Baby Step 7 and our family income is $127,000 per year. We have an older dog who has some very expensive veterinary bills lately. We both want to know that financially we should be willing to continue his life. We both love our dogs so much that if we have to make a very tough decision somewhere on the road, we will appreciate your thoughts.
Jeff
Dear Jeff,
Wow…you really want to get me in trouble, don’t you? First, let me say this: I. like. dog. I real Do. There are several in my life and now, I prefer one more than most people I know.
That being said, I like crazy little animals that are still…a dog. This is not one of my grandchildren, nor is it one of my children. If you ask me how much money I’m going to spend to keep one of my children or grandchildren alive, the answer is simple – all the money I get. everything. I used to start with nothing, and I could do it again. But there is your answer.
Now, this is something that some people are hard to hear. People who love animals as much as I do, I have observed that the whole relationship is more than humans than animals. I’ve seen people spend tens of thousands of dollars to keep their pets alive, even if animals are still suffering. At that time, it was unfair to animals. Unfortunately, this is usually what ends up happening.
Listen, I understand this. No one of me is bad because I have experienced this kind of feeling, too. I have to let the animal fall asleep and I will be 100% honest with you: I sat there and cried – I mean crying when it happens. It seems to me that this is a better path to sometimes take, rather than selfishly letting the animal spend the last few weeks or months of pain just because you don’t want to go through difficult things.
Now, if you can fix the animal – if you can give it a more ordinary, painless life by spending some money and actually correcting the problem, then, of course. Do it. There is no rule of thumb or percentage for things like this. If you actually have Let’s fix them for this money. But if you want to go deep into debt, destroy financial situations or get your family to scramble to make a living, then, no. sorry. You should be so honored and love that wonderful little animals that you won’t let them suffer.
I hope you understand this, Jeff, it makes sense to you. God bless you all, God bless that ancient puppy. Hope you can spend more happy days together.
– Dave
