Not only will this reduce the amount of homeless and unwanted pets sitting in shelters, but it can erradicate the resentment so many owners can develop against their pet for how costly they are. As it is now, there are healthy animals sitting in shelters waiting to be put down, not to mention the ones waiting to die because no one will adopt them due to the expensive health problems.

A lot of us take for granted what we have, not just economically but socially. Some people dont have families, they dont know how to make friends, or form bonds and relationships. It might be hard for financially, mentally stable individuals to accept that many of the people around them are socially inept. Many of these individuals often find it easier to experience companionship with an animal. This behavior might never change for them. I don't care how 'new age' it sounds, but studies have even proven that having a pet and bring about positive transformations for people that really need them. Its actually been scientifically proven that our brains produce dopamine when petting the fur of an animal.

Its a cold, cycnical, and selfish world we live in when people can't see how the “good” that can result from this far out weighs the “bad”. In a world were we are all practically suffering some form of mental illness, it might be more effective to remendy it with a friend instead of a pill. The healthcare industry has profitted from us long enough. The same pharacuetical companies that supply pills for humans , also profit by produces those same products for animals. People are creatures of higher intelligence and will that burden we have a karmic responsibility to all living things of lower intelligence. Is this country so vehemently against medical assistance of any kind and health in general, that we will do nothing to address the mired of issues that pertain to healthcare in this country.

It's another public-for private replacement, of pet health care benefits some employers offer already.

And people wonder why conservatives often argue about slippery slopes?

What's actually amusing is that I remember years ago Rush Limbaugh satirizing the Clinton sponsored Family Leave Act by saying that eventually it would lead to employers having to give paid time off for employees who needed to take their pets to the vet. When real life comes so close to satire, you know things are getting out of hand.

You pay 20%. You don't file a return. You get nothing back. No exemptions. No deductions. No credits. Period.

I would rather subsidize the animals' care…..after all, their plight is not the result of their own efforts and choices in life.

Yes, absolutely it's hard. In fact, it can be heart-breaking. I've been a pet owner my entire life… and there have been points when I could not afford the care needed to preserve a loved animal. It never occurred to me, though, that such a problem was anyone's but my own.

I still cringe when I remember our cat, Scooter's, $800 vet bill for urinary tract infection and Linus' $1100 ER bill for heart failure. These days the treatments for animals are similar to those given to humans, but most don't have health insurance for their animals. Its hard for owners to just stand by and let the animals suffer and die, but many can't pay those kind of vet bills.