Why do families who are poor, have pets

Absolutely

Depends if there is one in your area. I am not in the catchment area for one.

Poor people make bad financial decisions all the time. It is one of the reasons they can't escape poverty.

The poor don't need a smartphone, a TV, anything bigger than a bedsit, any sort of holiday or paid hobby. They should just work in their lowly jobs and quietly get on with it, how dare they have wants.

The PDSA offer free vet care for those on benefits. So the animals would be treated for free.

I would also like to know this, because I'm surprised that a charity whose purpose is to support homeless people would make such an inflammatory and derogatory statement.

Of the (many) people I've come into contact with through my work who sleep rough or are insecurely housed and had a dog, I don't believe that a single one had a dog so they could feel "superior" to it. Most of them had a dog because it made them feel safer, even if the dog was a big softy they felt on balance they'd be less likely to be robbed/attacked/raped. Also surely you don't need to work for a homelessness charity to understand how incredibly lonely and isolating living on the streets can be? It's hardly surprising that someone in that situation might want the companionship of a dog.

I don't think you can compare a pet to a car or phone. A phone especially is a necessity these days. You can't get buy without one. I get having a pet is a unnecessary expense if your poor but you def need a phone and a car is needed in many locations too. Before long people will be saying the poor should live on plain bread and pasta.

And someone who took their pet to the vets and paid £900 for treatment did too.

I completely agree that you should consider if you can afford a pet before getting one. Even if you have insurance you have to pay the bills first a lot of the time before you claim it back.

We aren’t well off at all but comfortable and both our cats needed became very poorly at the same time (the worst luck and two completely different events). We ended up with £2700 on our credit card. Only one paid out so we had to pay £1200. If we weren’t financially ok then both our cats would have been put to sleep.

Bring back pet licences and install proper accountability. So called 'lesser' animals should not be treated as gratification for people. idiot neighbours apparently love dogs, have 2 and they appear to be mostly in the house, barking when the owners return..... what is the point? Why do I have to listen to it?

But that wasn’t the point of the original post which was whether people who can’t afford pets should have them. Bob can clearly afford his pets in your scenario so that’s a non issue.

Personally, I think that the blame lies with our culture that everyone seems to think a family should have a dog or cat. It's not just an aspiration, it's an expectation. Pets have just become another thing that we aquire, like cars and mobile phones, and people think they should have one without considering the needs of the animals.

If Bob can budget his benefits and still afford pets, then he is doing nothing wrong.
I know some people on MN would love this, but if you have a bit of spare benefit when your bills are paid... you are allowed to spend it how you want. You don't have to give it back.

I saw a woman Facebook saying she wanted to adopt a kitten by couldn’t afford the £100 adoption fee. She wanted the fee waived for people on low incomes. When you take consideration vet fees it’s actually not a bad deal. If you can’t even afford £100 then you shouldn’t be getting a pet.

The tax payer certainly shouldn’t be supporting Bob to have Tiddles, Rover, and Muffy. I don’t have a Ferrari because I can’t afford to keep it, even though it would give me great pleasure. Should I get one and hope that Rachel Reeves introduces some sort of tax credits for people who can’t afford petrol for their Ferraris?

A lot of people grew up having pets when it wasn't so expensive, so they just see it as a normal way of life.

Unpopular opinion - I think it's ridiculous how much people are pressured into spending on their pets these days, especially compared to even 30/40 years ago. I've got a friend who's spent thousands on chemo for her dog because she feels guilty saying no. There should be no shame in having a dog with cancer euthanised (it's very sad, yes, but it shouldn't be considered shameful)

Same with £££ food. Great that the option is there for wealthy owners, but dogs survived for generations on literal kitchen scraps - buying Tesco own brand dog food is not neglectful.

Surprised how far I had to look down to find any reference to pet insurance! Our naughty rescue Bengal (with previous health conditions prior to rescue - he’d been fed the wrong type of food and ended up with a prolapse, bless him) is insured. It did go up nearly a tenner this year (my fault for forgetting to get quotes from other providers before renewal) but is still “only” £48pm for comprehensive with extras, which is much cheaper than treatment. I wouldn’t say we’re “poor” (bit of a classist way of putting it tbh) but a few years back our last lovely cat required treatment at a regional animal hospital for a rare type of cancer, that would have cost £1000s (around £7,000 I think it was) without insurance. You’ll be able to get cashback or free gifts with most new policies too. I think we got £40 in Amazon vouchers last time which more or less pays for 6-8 weeks food.

ManyPets offer a money back scheme if you pay a small premium and don’t claim too. Think it worked out £2-3 ish extra per month - we’re now due £100 back for last year which will be paid in October.

If you don’t want to insure you can also just put aside a set amount each month instead of paying a premium - the risk is this won’t cover something very costly though.

As for pet food there was a recent post in a different thread (about budgeting for a family of 4) about homemade dog food being cheaper and healthier for them!

I'm also on benefits, im a disabled, single, solo, stay at home parent to 2 disabled DC and my only income is from the government. I am offended on behalf of myself. I accept OP may not have meant it in the way I read it, I'm peri and not having a great day, but to me this is just goady and yet another dig that "poor" people shouldn't be allowed to have anything, not one single thing, that could make their life better/happier/whatever

I’m on benefits, and I can’t afford a pet. Just that, really. I’d like one, very much, but couldn’t afford the insurance or vets bills, so I go without.

I’m not offended by OP’s question at all. Are you being offended for me? Please don’t be.

Hopefully one day you will be in their position

We had a cat when we were young (and poverty stricken)

Because our council house was infested with rodents.

I think there is a difference between having 1 or 2, to 4 or 5. No?
Or just keep popping them out, hope for the best, cause Love and the Government will sort it?

The same reason people have more kids then what they can afford, drive cars more expensive than what they need to take them from A to B.

Lower income comes (many times, not always) hand in hand with poor education and ability to see the bigger picture and even mental health issues.
If it was really just for the love for dogs, they could walk neighbours or friends dogs, use apps like Borrow my dog and so on. It is what is.

It's often about distrust of other people due to trauma so they get animals to fill that need.
Often unwisely

My family is in a fairly high income bracket. 3 years ago we got a dog. That dog has brought more joy than literally any other experience or thing. Given the choice between 2 annual holidays or the dog, the kids would choose the dog. Sports and activities v the dog, the dog would win again. Sometimes I think of all the money we have spent over the years on nice things for our home, trips, lifestyle things and every single one of them is trumped by one little pet. If the tide turned and we had to live on a low income, downsize our house, sell the car etc then I think we could manage. But without the dog, we'd be terribly unhappy people.