00:00Do you find yourself skipping taking your pet to the vet because those bills are getting too high to bear?
00:05If so, you're not alone.
00:07More Americans are declining treatments as the cost of veterinary care far outpaces inflation.
00:13We're looking into how high these costs are getting and what pet owners can do about it.
00:22In the rolling hills of Missouri, among miles and miles of horse farms, lies another sort of homestead.
00:30Look, it's friends.
00:31I will take those.
00:32Tracy Rumpf is the founder of Second Chance Ranch, a cage-free home where dogs rule the roost.
00:40Surviving on donations, Rumpf says the number of surrenders and the cost of care are both on the rise.
00:47A lot of people in the last couple of years, we've noticed, are surrendering their dogs because they can't afford them anymore.
00:54Can't afford their dental, can't afford preventatives, even sometimes food.
01:00Rather than getting euthanized, many of the older dogs end up here.
01:05And I started seeing senior dogs were just kind of disposed of.
01:09As we get older, we're not as useful anymore.
01:12We live in a very disposable world.
01:13I can't even begin to tell you the stories we hear about why people who have had their dog for 10, 11, 12, 13 years, surrender them,
01:21and can walk away and get in that car and not think about that dog ever again.
01:26And we take care of them.
01:29A recent Gallup survey of 2,500 American cat and dog owners show veterinary care is out of reach for many.
01:36About half of those polled say they have not brought their pets to the vet in the past year, even when they felt the pet needed care.
01:45More than 7 in 10 pet parents who declined care said they couldn't afford it or it wasn't worth the cost.
01:52Hi.
01:52This is hi.
01:53At Second Chance Ranch, volunteers and veterinarians are working to give abandoned elderly dogs their best quality of life.
02:02In many cases, they adopt the dogs to owners willing to care for those who may be up in years.
02:08But elderly care means big vet bills.
02:11In April, I wrote a check for $26,000.
02:15That was for six weeks.
02:16Good.
02:17But often in veterinary medicine, people have to make really hard choices when they're faced with very large bills and a situation where their animal may not pull through.
02:29Dr. Leah Cohn prepares the next generation of vets at the University of Missouri Veterinary Health Center.
02:35The cost of veterinary care has risen.
02:37There's no doubt about it.
02:38It really doesn't matter if you're putting an animal through a CT scanner or a person through a CT scanner.
02:45Same thing for a number of other tools and equipment.
02:48But how much are we talking?
02:50Since 2014, vet bills have gone up more than 60 percent, according to Gallup, while inflation is up about 35 percent.
02:58Market Watch says dog owners pay nearly $30,000 over the lifetime of man's best friend.
03:04Broken down, it's a little over $2,500 a year.
03:08And that's with pet insurance.
03:09The American Veterinary Medical Association says only about 4 percent of pets are covered by insurance.
03:17Even with insurance, Market Watch found the average emergency vet visit runs around $1,500.
03:23So besides pet insurance, what's the answer?
03:27Both Rumpf and Cohn say keeping up on annual exams can catch issues before they become major problems, both for your pet and for your bank account.
03:36I'd also like them to plan ahead for what they're going to do if expensive care is needed, whether that's having a savings account or being able to recognize where you could get credit to be able to use towards veterinary care or buying an insurance policy for your pet.
03:54Ask for a payment plan.
03:56There are certain credit cards like care credit or things like that that a lot of vet clinics do take that, you know, you can spread that payment throughout.
04:05There are organizations who help people, you know, sometimes there are emergency things come up.
04:11Your dog's been hit by a car or they tear their ACL or whatever that may be.
04:15And there are resources out there that you can contact to help you pay for that vet bill.
04:23And for those hoping to add a four-legged family member, Rumpf requests you look at rescues like hers.
04:29Her hope is someday she'll be put out of business.
04:32I would love to not have to have a ranch like this or all of the amazing rescues out there who every day are battling.
04:42For more information on second-hand ranch or for a complete look at the Gallup survey, check out this story on the Straight Arrow News app.
04:50For Straight Arrow News, I'm Simone Del Rosario.
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