Beware the money pet
Yes, you read that right, beware the money pet. Most of us have seen the movie “The Money Pit” with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, but how many people really figure out how much a pet is going to cost before they get one?
Recently I had a potential client in my office who in seven months had racked up $14,000 in credit card debt. I have seen people pile debt up quickly before, but $14,000 in seven months is quite a feat.
Before I make recommendations to any client, there are some questions I ask to try to figure out what the root of their money problem is. The last thing I want to do is recommend bankruptcy to someone who is just going to go back down the road that leads to debt problems.
I was going through my client’s credit card bills and one location kept coming up, AAA Veterinary Associates (name changed). Upon further questioning, I learned that my client had bought a daschund for $900 from a local pet store and the dog had spine problems. One surgery lead to another, and before she knew it, she had spent $12,000 on medical bills for the dog.
There was no way I was going to file a Chapter 7 case for this woman until I knew that the problem was resolved. Medical problems with pets are among the most heart-wrenching there are, because every human has a line of what they cannot or will not pay for Fido or Sparky to be made well, and we always feel dirty when we decide it is better to put our pet to sleep rather than continue to pour our hard earned dollars into their medical issues. It is doubly hard when it is a child’s pet, as this dog was.
I had to deliver some bad news. I told my potential client that bankruptcy would not solve her problem unless she stopped the financial bleeding, and in her case the financial bleeding was this dog. She had to be reasonably sure the dog wasn’t going to require much more medical care or she would need to put the dog up for adoption, or worse, put the dog to sleep.
Needless to say this wasn’t what she wanted to hear. I got a little bit of the “shoot the messenger” effect, but that is OK, I can take it. I have tried to keep touch with her, but she isn’t returning calls or emails. I certainly hope that she resolves her money pet issue before she files for bankruptcy, even if she doesn’t file with me, because right now I will not file a case for her.
This is an extreme example of what a sick pet can do. I have heard of pet insurance, and frankly I’m skeptical of it, because dogs and cats tend to live about 12 years, how is a company going to insure it? I’m afraid I can’t advise you on that, but I do know that if you are in tough financial shape or your job is not on sure footing, now is not the time to get a pet, no matter how much your child or significant other wants one.
The average cost of keeping a dog in according to the 2005-2006 APPMA National Pet Owners Survey was $1,571. That is not a large amount of money, but the trouble is that is an average. Ear surgery can cost $800. Spine surgery can cost $1500, and that is on the low end. Bladder surgery can cost $1000.
If these costs keep adding up, you will have yourself in a money pet.
I don’t know if I can make it any clearer, if you are in a bad financial state, now is not the time to get a pet.
Most people don’t want to find themselves in my office discussing bankruptcy, but this economy has caused a lot of people who never thought it could happen to them to find out that it can happen to them. Let’s be sure Fido isn’t leading you into my office on a leash known as a money pet.
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