If I were sick.....

"If I were sick or injured, where would the money come from?" I have heard my friends and their owners talk about that. In this time of living from paycheck-to-paycheck, with many people on the brink of foreclosure, what do people do when their pet has an emergency? My primary human has been working as an emergency veterinarian for a number of years, but she has recently seen a significant increase in people who simply cannot afford to pay for emergency care for their pets. At the very least, they find it extremely difficult to find ready money to put down for the kind of deposits that the typical veterinary emergency hospital requires in order to begin treatment. This has become such a big concern to both my humans that they are preparing to start a non-profit organization to address this problem in three important ways. The first will be to find resources for people to pay for the short-term emergency care that their pet needs. The second is to help them learn better financial management so that they can get out of debt and put money aside for life's emergencies. The third is to reach out to assist other people, like themselves. In this way, the gift that they receive turns around and becomes a gift for another. This project is still in the early planning stage, but my partner is looking for people who might be interested in helping it get off the ground in local communities. More information will be posted as the idea develops.