I’m loving your work, and only recently learned about Citizen Canine, which I just finished reading. Interestingly, the way I learned about you and the book was by posting a comment somewhere about the ballooning of veterinary costs, even though the costs are often out of reach of the average pet owner.

My partner and I actually launched our own business recently, dedicated to helping pet owners and vets find a financial solution that’s fair to both. In essence we provide an alternative to third-party financing by setting up and managing installment payments, so pet owners have a little extra time to come up with $$$ to pay for an emergency, or cruciate ligament surgery, or a dental extraction (can be up to $1,000 or more per tooth! I had no idea.)

Anyway, the impetus for our business was our love for our own animals (dogs and horses), and the fact that we think of them as family members. We couldn’t possibly imagine putting one of our animals down for economic reasons. On the other hand, it could potentially be financially devastating, and there are not a lot of options out there for the average pet owner to afford an unexpected bill.

That being said, we aren’t so naive to think we are offering a perfect solution. Some advanced treatments for cancer (like the new Veterinary CyberKnife in Philadelphia) range from $6,000 – $10,000. A few pet owners have the discretionary income to pay for something like that; most of us don’t. We really developed our business in response to the needs of the average pet owner who is facing expenses between $500 and 3 or 4,000 dollars.

For the past 20 years the only option typically offered to pet owners was a third-party financing agreement (medical credit card.) There have been lots of problems with this, ranging from low approval rates to pet owners being hit with outrageously high interest rates that are retroactive to the date of original purchase/service.

Here in Baltimore we are working to make things at least a little bit better in our corner of the world. I’m pleased to say that what we’re doing is starting to catch on. Pet owners welcome us; vets are slower to warm up because they want their money upfront (even if a third-party finance co. takes 5 – 15% as a fee.) However, most vets acknowledge that there is a huge problem in terms of clients’ ability to pay. They have never had any other way to address it other than to set up promissory notes, ask for community service in return, hold on to 7 or 8 post-dated checks – one vet even held the title to a client’s truck.

Anyway, I’m off topic here with respect to your blog post! I enjoyed your book and it gave me a new awareness of the importance of contemplating what we mean by “animal rights.” It seems the definition is a moving target, and that while some animal rights activists claim to love animals, it kind of seems like they hate people. Particularly if they are seizing people’s pets and then euthanizing them.

Thanks for your work; I look forward to posting some of your content on our web site’s blog and on our FB business page at http://www.facebook.com/EBCSMaryland.