Today there are so many people who own pets, especially here in America, and all pet owners want nothing but the best for their pets, from giving them the best quality food, to proper veterinary care should their pet or pets need it. Unfortunately, the status of pets is that they are unfortunately considered a somewhat a "luxury" item, and in the eyes of the government and law in general pets are merely considered as "property" Try to tell that to your average pet owner who usually will value their pet every much as a beloved family member, and will often think of their pet as their "children".
It has been proven that pets are extremely beneficial to people, and this can be especially true of people who are disabled, and not just those of the visioned disabled, and therefore needing a seeing eye dog, but also those people who are disabled for other reasons, including emotional and psychological disabilities. Pets can also be beneficial to people of even low or poor income status.
Whether rich or poor, disabled or not, pet owners often view their beloved pets as family members. The hardship however, can occur when those who do not have adequate income are faced with a pet who may be in need of veterinary care, and as you no doubt realize, veterinary costs can be staggeringly high. Yes, there are pet health insurance plans available, yet people of lower income and who are disabled may not be able to afford such plans, as some can be almost as expensive to have as those health care plans for humans. And, as in the case of human health plans, pet owners, especially those who have more than one pet, each pet would have to be listed and covered by the pet insurance plan. People of lower incomes or who are disabled and who are in need of veterinary care for their beloved pet family member may not be able to afford this idea of pet health insurance plans and therefore, should a real urgent medical condition crops up and are in need of veterinary care for their pets, these same people are quite often faced with the hard decision of putting their pet down; this is true especially if the medical care their pet needs runs into the hundreds, or even thousands. Quite a lousy decision to make, is it not?
I'm aware that there are many veterinary places and practices that do allow for some kind of reduced fees for pet health care, especially in their spaying and neutering programs they may have for pets, but that is usually all. The majority of these organizations are non-profit ones whose financial resources are limited as they are not funded by the government, therefore, none could handle or offer to those in need for other medical emergencies.
Therefore, an idea struck me and I couldn't help wonder if there could be some kind of health plan initiated to help those people who love their pets, want to keep them, and want to be able to have proper veterinary care. What I'm thinking of is a sort of Medicaid equivalent for pet health care for lower income or disabled people. I myself am disabled and receive a small SSI Disability benefit check each month, and if God forbid one of my two cats were to become ill, I would not be able to seek the proper care for my cats, should they get seriously ill and needed veterinary care.
I can't help thinking that if enough people perhaps wrote to various organizations and voiced their own opinions that somehow some action could take place and get things rolling into this direction of a "Medicaid" program for pet health care, that it could become a reality. I have already started writing to several pet organizations, such as the ASPCA, Friends of Animals, Best Friends, The Humane Society, and even PETA. I'm hoping that they will respond and further help me and might lead me to the right direction of the next course of action, which may include writing to various government officials, say our Congressional leaders with my proposal.
I invite you to take action too, especially if you are a pet owner who is of a lower income status and/or disabled and even if you're not, I feel the more people get our feelings across about such a plan the better. You may start with the writing to the organizations I've already cited, and I'm sure there are many more that can be contacted as well. I feel it's high time that all pet owners should be able to breathe just a little easier that if their beloved pet is of need of veterinary medical care, they would be able to do so as opposed to having to put the animal down. I firmly believe that all pet owners should have the right keep their pet healthy with some kind of pet health care plan that all can have access to. And more important, perhaps in the very near future, pets will also be regarded as being more than "mere" property or luxury "item".
Here are some places to start writing to: ASPCA: legistlativeservices@aspca.org
FRIENDS OF ANIMALS: info@friendsofanimals.org
BEST FRIENDS: info@bestfriends.org
PETA: info@peta.org
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