If you have a pet, or may get one, you should not overlook some important factors relative to enjoying animals, particularly pets.

Cost certainly is one factor. Simply stated, a pet costs money. Of course, so does attending a soccer match, going to a theater or pursuing a hobby such as oil painting. A reasonable view, then, is to weigh the enjoyment obtained in the light of its cost. Time magazine said:

“Americans spend $2.5 billion a year on commercially prepared pet food alone to feed their pets​—more than six times as much as they spend on baby food, and more than enough to nourish the one-third of the world’s population that goes hungry. . . . For each dollar spent on pet food, Americans lavish at least as much for pet products and services.”

Many persons obtaining a pet do not anticipate a large expense. But costs have a way of mounting. Perhaps special food seems advisable. The pet gets ill and requires treatment. Licenses, cages, leashes and so on may be needed.

When her husband died, Mrs. E. bought a Sealyham terrier. She grew very fond of it. At the end of a year, however, she calculated how much her pet cost. She had gradually come to feed it special meat and snacks​—$547.50 in one year. Shots and medicines​—$50; grooming and accessories (sprays, collars, toys and so forth)​—$291; kennel care when she traveled​—$126. After giving this example, a book about pets concluded:

“When Mrs. E. found that she had spent, in one year, [$1,014.50] on her dog, a sum equivalent to the annual income of a migrant worker in California, she decided there was something basically wrong about treating animals, however much one loved them, better than people.”

That was her conclusion. Someone else might conclude that for him the benefits of having a pet warrants the cost. In any event, a person ought to weigh the expense and use reasonableness in deciding what is best for him. Priorities differ, as do circumstances. One African said:

“In the general economic climate of undeveloped Africa it is very difficult for people to understand how the higher paid members of the community can spend as much, if not more, money on feeding dogs and cats and horses than the average person spends feeding his whole family.”

The London Times (September 9, 1967) said that in a single year the British spent £95,555,304 on food for over 5 million dogs, 4.5 million cats and 3.5 million birds, fish and small animals.