Q: I am debating putting my dog to sleep because I don’t want to spend another $6,000 to surgically remove an object from his stomach. He is 4 years old and a fabulous pet. But this is the second time he has swallowed a ball. I have to borrow the money to pay for the operation and I still haven’t finished paying for the last one. I will feel bad if I put him down, but is it ethical?

A: This column is going to make some people unhappy. For that, let me apologize at the outset.

But here’s the thing. Pets are not our children. People say “Pookie is my baby.” But this is nonsense — precious Pookie is an animal, no more, no less.

That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be kind to our pets, even love them. I’ve had cats my whole life, and have loved most of them (one was foul-tempered, but one lewd feline per lifetime is better than my average with humans). But pets are animals, full stop.

As a result, ethical principles that govern how we care for sick children or parents don’t apply. When people are ill, our first response must be to throw every resource at healing. When animals are sick, a more measured approach is not merely justified, but necessary.

You ask whether it’s ethical to put your pet down instead of spending $6,000. You have the question backwards. The real question is: Is it ethical to spend so much money — and put yourself in debt — to keep a dog alive?

The answer is no.

Obviously, if he’s swallowed a ball before, and now this one, he’ll swallow one again. So this expenditure won’t solve the problem.

And it’s an price you can’t responsibly afford. You already have an unpaid loan. If you were on Ontario’s ‘sunshine list’, this might be a different question. But most of us live on defined budgets; we try to make responsible decisions about what we can spend on housing, food and other essentials. Most also set aside a little to help others and improve the world in which we live.

And what kind of world is that? It’s one in which countless children go to bed hungry, where kids die of diseases that could be controlled by dirt-cheap vaccines, where community services are chronically underfunded, where food banks are a growth industry, where hospitals and schools cry for volunteer donations — this is a list that goes on forever.

I hope Fido slides gently into puppy paradise ... a place where balls come out as easily as they go in. But you still have to pay for housing and food, so where would this six grand come from? Money you might otherwise give to help other human beings?

OK, I take back what I said about sunshine listers. Regardless of economic status, anyone with an extra six grand does far more good spending on starving kids, AIDS research, a cure for cancer — rather than a dog unable to discern the difference between kibbles and a baseball.

Send your questions to star.ethics@yahoo.ca .