To say that having a pet is a luxury, not a right?

[YourSnappyFinch]

Pets are expensive and time-consuming. Shouldn’t people prove they can afford and care for them before getting one?

Who to, the pet police? Any fool can buy a pet, that's partly why there's so many in the animal rescues, sadly.

You could say the same about children tbh. Perhaps we should all need licences for pets, for pregnancy etc

This!
And sadly, circumstances can change in an instant. My world could collapse this week and by next month my animals could be facing homelessness with me so I’m not sure how much it would really mean.

Pets are an enormous help for mental health and the threshold for affordability is very subjective. There was a recent thread where people were berating a poor poster who was considering whether taking her dying hamster to the emergency night vet was a reasonable expense - all probably to shorten or lengthen its life by about 12h.

Honestly getting into arguments about pet affordability is not going to lead anywhere nice.

So we’d have tighter controls on people owning pets that we do having children?!

Who would they prove these things to? How? Who would pay for it?

Stupid idea.

Nobody should get a kitten unless it’s already spayed / they’re going to get it spayed. Deciding to let a cat have a litter is irresponsible & stupid.

I’m conflicted. On the one hand I completely agree. on the other I see the difference they make in people’s lives. The companionship, the reason to get up in the morning, the love they give and the support they provide. For some they aren’t a luxury but the reason they are alive

That’s another good point. How do I know if Sarah working in Pets at Home can afford her children? Or to safely run her car? Or if she mismanages her health and is a burden on the NHS? Where would this trial by peers end?

Well, in some circumstances you kinda do.

If you want a rescue a dog for instance, some rescue centres will look at your income.

Also if you get into debt and try to set up a payment plan, some companies or councils will ask you to fill out an income and expenditure sheet and if there's pet expenses on there, they will tell you it's a luxury and you should be using that towards the debt.

I suppose they are. But what does one do with the pets you already own, when circumstances change suddenly?

I do find it irritating beyond belief when people acquire puppies etc in the full knowledge they can’t afford to insure them, generally pay for their vetinary needs. Often these are the same people who will go on to not walk their dogs and so on.

On the one hand, it's true. Pets are a luxury. On the other hand, should your circumstances change, you can offload an expensive, unaffordable car to whoever you like and no-one other than you will mind. You might even be able to return it to the dealer. As with children, there is no simple mechanism for returning a pet that has become unaffordable. Proper arrangements have to be made with an individual or organisation that can provide a decent level of care and it may be that Fido or Tiddles would be best off with you, albeit in less luxurious circumstances and with support from the PDSA etc. After all, you know and understand each other and as important as money is, so is knowledge, love and commitment.

I think it also goes to pet owning mentality. Should a pensioner, struggling to afford anything, keep the cat that is her world and scrape together the money for food/insurance? Sure, if she wants to. No one is suffering. But it's the people who won't pay for insurance/take a pet to the vet/buy decent food (often claiming it's too expensive, according to a vet friend) that annoy me.

people who don’t look after pets shouldn’t have pets. You can buy all the top everything but then if you leave your dog on it’s own as you head off to your well paying job, or leave them to sit as a guard dog why are you better than anyone?

I think the problem can sometimes be that a lot can change for a family over the lifespan of a longer lived pet, such as a dog or cat.

We could comfortably afford ours when we got them ten years ago. And although the cost of food, wormer, flea treatments, etc have gone up a lot with inflation in recent years, we can still afford it. But we can no longer insure them against vets fees.

Not as expensive and time consuming as children

It's about responsibility not affordability. Much like with parenting.

My cat is an essential employee. The house would be over run by mice without him.

ps we love him to bits

It's horrible when someone takes on an animal they can't afford or don't want to care for properly, but I don't see how it can be legally prevented except in a few cases like when the person already has a record of animal cruelty.
Some owners with little money prioritise their pets and find ways to cover the bills, so it could not be decided on household income alone. And they are a lifeline for some people.

It's a very good point. If you're saying this about pets, surely it should apply to children even more - and then you risk saying goodbye to personal choice and freedom.

So many things in life are more accessible to the rich rather than the poor.
It's really tricky to judge , people who are less well off may have more time to devote to their pet, but may struggle financially should the animal need vets assistance. The opposite may be true of better off people, some of whom, particularly celebrities, seem to treat pets more like toys.
But I see what OP is getting at, the welfare of the animal should be the most important thing.
When I got my cat from a rescue centre, they did lots of checks about my house's suitability.

Sone people make dumb decisions. All we can do is try to educate people better about not making dumb decisions. We could also put more laws and restrictions around the breeding and sale of animals, so that going to FB Marketplace and buying a puppy on a whim, or Pets at Home for a rabbit isn’t an option. Responsible breeders and rescues can then vet out the people likely making dumb decisions.

But think people need to be more pragmatic about animals and pet ownership. I’ve seen threads where somebody with a 16-year-old cat with health problems is being absolutely brutalised for daring to even think of having it put down before it’s at death’s door because the latest round of treatment is going to cost thousands that they don’t have. Some people’s idea of the levels you have to go to to be considered worthy of having a pet is bonkers.

Exactly. And it’s the same for mortgages - you have to state your dependents and childcare costs which impacts affordability.

But wouldn't cats eventually become extinct with your thinking?

Agreed. Also agree that people’s circumstances can change unexpectedly. My DP was made redundant during Covid which had a big impact on our finances - we are lucky that we have two decent salaries coming in, but we would have cut back on many things to make sure we could keep our cat in the manner she was accustomed! Before we even had her in our home (and our boy cat now as she had to be pts last year) we had insurance in place, because damn, vets are expensive!

Don't threaten us with a good time 😈