The Aussie - Summer 2020 final

By comparison to many breeds, Australian Terriers are very
affordable. Pups might be few and far and difficult to obtain
but unlike many breeds in this category they don’t come with a
premium price. Breeders love their Aussies and prefer to seek
the right owners and charge a sensible price. Long may that
con<nue, but we would all like a few more people wan<ng an
Aussie!
The purchase price is just the start of the price of a pup.
Despite the well-documented significant cost of owning a
dog, 58% of dog owners do no research in to the costs
associated with their future pet prior to owning it, with one in
five not even thinking there was research to be done. The cost
of the ini<al vaccina<ons being one of the first outgoings. But it
doesn’t stop there. Puppies food tends to be more expensive,
there is the cost of beds, collar and leads, cages in cars, dog
bedding, anything that might be chewed other than the toys
bought.
A recent study found that Bri<sh dog owners are spending an
average of £240 each month, with costs incurred including
food, treats, professional grooming, pet insurance and vet’s
fees. This equates to a whopping £24.5 billion being spent on
dogs in the UK each year. In the US, Americans are spending
more than US$70 billion last year on their dogs. This far
exceeds the $7 billion spent on legal marijuana, and $32 billion
on pizza, just for two examples.
Survey also revealed that 60% of dog owners have insurance,
which can mean expensive repercussions for many in the event
their dogs is ill or injured. When asked how much an owner
would spend at the vets on trea<ng their dog, the average
amount was up to £1,271. While this may sound like a large
sum of money, the research also showed that pet owners
consistently underes<mated the cost of the most common
medical condi<ons. As part of the survey dog owners were
asked to es<mate the cost of a cruciate (knee) rupture. The
average amount suggested was £873. At the same <me Vets
were asked to price the treatment and the average cost was
£2,029. A £1,156 difference. Quite a shock to the credit card!
Owners were asked how much the cost would be if taking a
dog to the vet as it was showing signs of lameness. Once again,
the reality and the guess was out by £217. Owners reckoned
the cost to £508 on average; however the real average cost was
revealed to be £725.
The study also revealed that 18% of owners admiUed their pet
requires regular medica<on – on average cos<ng £109.19 per
month – a staggering £1,310.28 per year! Although Aussies
don’t tend to need the medica<on when young, these costs
can occur as they age and need medica<ons for old age
ailments.
So how do pet owners pay for unexpected treatment if they
are not insured? Worryingly many would get into debt. The
research showed that just over half would dip into their savings
(51%) , but almost two in five would use a credit card (39%),
26% would take out a loan, while nearly a quarter (23%) would
borrow from family and friends. Other op<ons are to take their
dogs to rescue and rescue centres do have many stray dogs
turning up with health issues.
Most shockingly however, 8% admiUed they’d be forced
to have their pet put down.
So how much is a dog’s life worth?
To most dog lovers, including yourselves, the answer is
obvious: They are priceless. As true as this answer may
be, it provides liUle guidance on how to value not just a
replacement cost of a new Aussie, but the effect of
private and public life of our four-legged companions.
To provide an answer, to begin with we looked at a
na<onal survey undertaken in the US. The results were
sta<s<cally analysed and ul<mately the value of a dog’s
life produced a figure of about $10,000. That’s around
£8,000.
Whether we agree with this figure or not, it at least gives
a bigger value than the replacement costs or current
value of a dog. Well in the case of Aussies. Some of the
so-called designer dog owner may feel that including their
ini<al purchase price this is a bit low!
Un<l this figure was available, those wan<ng to establish
a value had to rely on their best guesses to value their
costs and benefits as they related to their effect on
dogs. Why is this value important? Because if anything
happens to the dog what level of compensa<on is
appropriate. Recently there has been numerous cases of
contaminated dog food or pharmaceu<cals present a case
in point. But there are other situa<ons like road accidents,
things that go wrong at the Vets, or maybe the results of
an<-dog neighbours or the theb of a dog – the price of
the reward.
Naturally, if $10,000 is the maximum, even this severely
limits compensa<on for many dog owners. The research
showed compensa<on for owners should be much higher
to account for the loss of companionship and associated
emo<onal distress. And what value do you put on a Guide
Dog, hearing dog, medical alert dog. Their training alone
can be more than the $10k suggested.
Finally, like the baby presented to King Solomon, dogs
cannot be split in half. Today, most countries s<ll treat
dogs merely as property. Par<cularly, in messy divorces,
custody baUles over dogs can quickly escalate and turn
nasty. Our es<mates offer a reasonable reference point to
make divorce seUlements less conten<ous, at least when
it comes to four-legged companions.
But how do you value the invaluable?
Dogs mean so much to humans that it is hard to
determine what a dog’s life is worth.