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My sister's puppy needs surgery....

tkepongo

tkepongo

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 31, 2007
102
0
Oregon State University
My sister called and asked for money to pay for her puppy's heart surgery. It'll cost between $2000 to $3000. I only earn $8 an hour. I'm a college student and that is alot of money. The only problem about putting that dog to sleep is that he's not in pain or anything, and MY dog would be really depressed. What do you guys think she should do?
 
Is your sister younger or older than you? Does she have a full time job? Also, what about your parents?
Will this surgery completely cure the dog, or will in need continual treatment after that costing even more?

If you are a student and only make $8 an hour it seems to me that you don't have thousands of dollars to give to your sister.
 
If it is a puppy, while you might really want to pay now ... if it isn't a 100% cure, then the cost over the next 10-15 years can really be big.

Bad enough to see the costs to extend a senior dogs life a year or two.

But to be hit while the dog is a puppy. :eek:
 
dukebound85 said:
its just a dog. put it to sleep and get a new one

or just let him be but there is NO way i would pay that kind of cash for a dog, esp if i was strapped for cash
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I'm sorry but your first comment is incredibly insensitive...

To the OP, I would suggest your sister save up her money as best she can, maybe you could get some kind of puppy drive? get your local community to help you out or something.

Her calling you up and asking for the money is a bit out of line, the dog is her responsibility, and as a result, she shouldn't be contacting you for the money, there are plenty of options for her to raise the money.

She could put it up for adoption, the RSPCA (in the UK) takes in animals that cannot be cared for, instead of just putting them down, I'm sure there is equivalent service where you are.
 
Unless the dog were very valuable breed, I would say, regretfully, to put the dog down. It's not realistic to spend that kind of money on a puppy. No logic to it. Sorry. :apple:
 
dukebound85 said:
its just a dog. put it to sleep and get a new one

or just let him be but there is NO way i would pay that kind of cash for a dog, esp if i was strapped for cash
Click to expand...

Well... that's.. humane. I suppose I see the logic behind it but it seems wrong none the less.

Although I do believe that she should be paying for most of the cost as it is her dog. If you have some emotional feelings/know that your dog would be upset if the dog were gone (however, unless they have been together for a long time or are siblings I doubt it would be too hard for your dog) for the dog it's ok for you to chip in if you feel that it's necessary but sticking the hole cost on you isn't a good thing for her to do.
 
The breeder may be stuck with the state's puppy lemon law ... she may be able to get another dog or a refund if she bought from a breeder or pet shop.
 
dukebound85 said:
its just a dog. put it to sleep and get a new one

or just let him be but there is NO way i would pay that kind of cash for a dog, esp if i was strapped for cash
Click to expand...

Maybe it's different for you, but my dog isn't just a dog. She's a member of our family, and to be honest, when she dies, I'll be more upset than I would be if some other members of my family die.
 
I think putting a dog to sleep is very inhumane if there's a way to save it. You have to have a dog to know how attached you and the dog get. It's your sister's dog, so it's her responsibility, and she should be the one paying. Maybe if she called asking for $3k to save her dog ten years from now you could help her pay, but since you're only in college, she should pay for the surgery.
 
unfortunate, yes i agree. practical to spend that money on a dog when you are having a hard time getting by yourself? heck no

i love my dogs too and know how attached people can get to them

but it is JUST a dog and it is NOT worth getting into financial ruin over

i swear, most people here are "city folk" and dont realize that animals are slaughtered for food daily

have you ever lived on a farm? ever raised livestock to compete at the fair and then they get sold off? most of the time to the slaughterhouse?

i personally would not operate on the dog
 
My sister just quit her job because she is leaving for college in two days. My 22 year old brother called and literally said "I know you have money so give us some". I just hung up the phone. I don't want to be inhumane, but I can't put my education on the line for a puppy's life.

My parents won't help out at all. They don't make that much money and they see it as "just a dog".
 
tkepongo said:
My sister just quit her job because she is leaving for college in two days. My 22 year old brother called and literally said "I know you have money so give us some". I just hung up the phone. I don't want to be inhumane, but I can't put my education on the line for a puppy's life.
Click to expand...

dont. i wouldnt even think twice about it. it is not worth getting into financial trouble
 
Yea, definitely don't if your brother acted liked that, and even then it is not your responsibility.

If your sister and brother get mad at you and never talk to you again for this, why would you want to talk to them anyways?
 
It's a hard decision but what I learned from my first dog was that when its time to say goodbye you can spend hundreds on scans and thousands on surgeries but the dog usually is never the same after.

I ended up spending hundreds on my dog, but he was still in pain, so I had no choice but to put him to sleep.

Money isn't a big deal because your dealing with the life of a living animal, its just the fact that the odds of everything being 100% after aren't very high. So why put the poor thing through so much pain?

From your situation, your not in a situation to be lending others thousands for puppy's heart surgery. The best thing for you to do is probably throw in like $500 at the most. You have your own expenses and things to take care of.
 
Your sister and brother shouldn't have put you in this situation, in my opinion, and I think it's very unfortunate that they've chosen to handle the situation so poorly.

Are they willing to see reason in this issue? Also, did they ask for the money with intentions to pay you back (and if so, are they reliable)?
 
They're just as dirt poor as I am. I just have money now because I work full time during the summer. I don't expect them to be able to pay me back. So it's more of a donation rather than a loan.
 
Too many people view animals as family members just because they're domesticated, I for one watch the dog whisperer very often (probably too often because my wife likes it so much) but I do agree that they are just animals, and a lot of them are not balanced because people try to give them human traits, as far as your dog being sad if your sister's dog dies...dog packs see deaths all the time and move on. As far as you paying for it, I dropped out of college because I didn't have enough money to get back and forth and have regretted it more and more since (I was young and dumb), when there are so many other dogs out there that are healthy and need a home why would you risk your education for this one? Perhaps some will view that as cruel and insensitive, but I am a realist, seems to me you don't have the means to help her anyway and sometimes no matter how much you want to help someone you can't. Tell her if she wants to pay for it so bad there are plenty of places that offer loans.
 
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