"I'm sure that won't be a popular opinion"
Truth is not a popularity contest.
If there are children in the world not receiving medical care, how can one justify spending huge sums on animals?
I would save my cat before I would save 90% of the people I know.
The nice thing about living in a free country is not having to justify what we do with our own property.
I even agree with you I think some people spend way too much money on their pets, but that is their business, if they have the money to spend and they are not neglecting their own kids it is none of my or anybody else’s business.
Now with all of the money being taken out of American’s pockets to provide health-care to needy children through Medicaid and other welfare programs I am not about to tell anyone that they should not be spending their own money on anything that their heart fancies to provide health-care to the children of others.
What I choose to spend my money on isn't either.
If there are children in the world not receiving medical care, how can one justify spending huge sums on animals?
It's not my (or the government which I pay for with my tax dollars) job to provide medical care to all the children on my block much less the world. It is my job to ensure that an animal in my care is taken care of to the best of my ability.
On the other hand, if you feel the need to spend your money providing health care to all the world's children, I'll cheer you on. Since it seems like such a priority to you, you'll want to step away from your keyboard and get right on that.
Besides, the more I deal with people (and even children) the more I love my dog.
It's the question I asked my husband and daughter recently when we rushed our new kitten to the vet hospital. We found a darling little kitten in our back yard and adopted it. The vet noticed he had a head tilt and several weeks later he looked as though he was in convulsions or something similar. I decided to pay for an emergency vet visit to see if something simple could be done. When we got there, a CT Scan was recommended. When I asked cost, I was told probably around $1,500. I told the vet that very frankly, while there were starving children in the world, we would not spend that money on a cat, beloved tho he was. There was nothing else she could do and she said she thought he would die within several days. It's been three months and we still have him. He does have some kind of neurological damage and so we don't know what his exact problem is or what his prognosis is. We've decided to enjoy him for as long as he has (which will hopefully be many, many years). However, we do spend money on the cat and even got another one (another stray). But we do set limits and try to be both reasonable and moral.
>>If there are children in the world not receiving medical care, how can one justify spending huge sums on animals?<<
Or video games, or cars, or bicycles.
I basically agree with both of you, but I am just playing devils advocate.
Fact is, as stupid as I think spending money on pets is, how other poeple choose to spend their disposable income is not my business. I also am quite aware that, on this issue, I most definitely live in a glass house.
Are you logged onto the correct board?
One may choose to support medical charities......nobody needs to "justify" to you what they spend money on.
Somehow I dont think the children in impoverished countries are receiving less medical care because somebody's dog is getting more attention....
"If there are children in the world not receiving medical care, how can one justify spending huge sums on animals?"
Since 1998.
Very likely Hillary would say something just like that.
This statement really irks me dsc.
Does your brand of "touchy feely" morality carry past children? Or what is the cutoff age for this situational morality? Sell everything you have but the sanctimonious clothes on your back and live what you say you believe.
Send your paycheck to wherever you choose and save the world. That'll happen. Snort, snort!!