Insure your fur?

There’s a fine line between love and obsession, and millions of Americans have crossed it – about nine million to be exact.\nAccording to a recent survey on mypetcover.com, about nine million Americans spend their hard earned money on health insurance for their pets. Many pet insurance plans are similar to those humans can get. Veterinary Pet Insurance, “America’s #1 Trusted Choice” in insuring their furry friends, claims to cover pets’ lab fees, X-rays and “eligible medical treatments” such as surgeries and prescriptions. \nInsurance plans for dogs run from $13 to $44 a month. The $44 plan, aka the “Best in Class Coverage,” also covers dental cleaning and urinalysis testing for the year. Dental plans for our pets? I wish I was kidding. Let’s see what else a person could do with this sort of money. \nFor less than $44 a month, you could sponsor an orphan in Africa. What are we saying? “Sorry, kid, you’ll have to eat those flies swarming around your head because my little Fido needs his teeth cleaned this month.”\nOr, “AIDS? Shoot, I don’t have the money to fight an epidemic if I expect to pay for Duke’s yearly urinalysis test.”\nAre you more into self-indulgence than saving the world one malnourished and/or AIDS-ridden child at a time? All right. You could do some other selfish, yet oh-so-fun, things with about 44 bucks, such as tank down seven pitchers of Bud Light at Nick’s, eat eight Triple Lindys at Moe’s (only if you go on burrito Monday, that is) or you could eat a dozen containers of Edy’s Chocolate Mocha ice cream. \nPeople may argue that this isn’t that big of a deal because not many people actually insure their pets. This may appear to be the case, as only 2 to 3 percent of Americans currently insure their little buddies, but the trend needs to be nipped in the bud before more Americans decide to purchase these health plans. If the 3 percent of the U.S. population who currently insure their pets opted to stop, there would be up to an extra $4,786,848,000 available at the end of the year. If we are willing to drop this kind of dough for our animals, it’s interesting that we’re sometimes resistant to opening our pockets for the Salvation Army collectors or even the collection plates passing through the pews on Sunday morning. In a nation with about 16 percent of its citizens lacking health insurance, it is pathetic that people would shell out any amount of money just so their pets are covered. \nI am not saying we should choose not to care for our pets. Few things bother me more than animal abuse. We need to remember, though, that no matter how much we may love our pets, they are, at the end of the day, just animals.