We need national health care for pets

Scoobert is feeling a bit anxious today. Tomorrow morning he goes in for surgery...again. It's not major, hopefully.   He's got a big, black mole on his belly that bleeds if he catches it when he's scratching. The vet just wants to take it off as a precautionary measure. We love the little guy like a son, so of course we agreed. And, of course, it's going to cost us about $100 or more.

This is the second trip to the vet for something of this magnitude in 2008, and the third in the past full year. If it keeps him healthy and happy, I'm not complaining, but I sure wish I could put him on my health insurance as a dependent. It's barbaric that this country, the richest in the world, still has such vast number of its four-legged citizens that go without the basic security of health coverage. What does it say about us as a people when a family has to choose between surgery for their puppy and being able to afford new chew toys? And while we're at it, have you seen Scoobert's teeth? His lower jaw juts out a full half inch beyond his uppers. He looks like a hairy extra from Aliens vs. Predators.

Sure, we'd love to get him braces, but we just can't afford them now. This means that Scoobert must continue to live with being mocked by the neighborhood cats who I have heard call him "shovel jaw." Scoobert puts up a good front, but dammit...he's crying on the inside. I can just tell. Could I at least claim him on my taxes?