Why Not?

I have always been a klutz.  Skinned elbows and knees were the rule rather than the exception ... and Dad always used to joke that if he drew a chalk line on the floor that I would trip over it.
Mom always promised that I would become graceful when I became older. It was not until my first Art Class in high school that we realized I was not going to 'grow out of it'.  After weeks of insisting that I should paint what I see and not make everything so 'flat, my teacher suggested that my parents mention this tidbit when I went for my next eye exam.  
As it happens we were ALL right.   I was painting 2 D because that was what I actually saw.   And I did "grow out of it" when I had glasses to compensate. These days when I trip its because I'm in multi tasking mode and not paying attention to what is underfoot.
How many times do we as pet owners run into the same thing?  The kitties that stop using the litter box?  The dogs whose temperaments seem to suddenly change?   New and unwelcome behaviors can often result in a myriad of Unhappy Tails, varying from the infamous "we don't have time for Mrs Piddles" on Kijiji to being abandoned/ surrendered / shot / drowned/ etc ...
It doesn't help that like everything else in the world, that vet costs are going up, up, up.   And before the keyboards catch on fire, I realize that veterinarians have to make a living.  Problem is ... as prices go up its killing more animals, eh?
Very few people have bottomless pockets.    While we don't actually have an official poverty line in Canada, anyone making minimum wage in this province will only break over twenty thousand a year if they work more than forty hours a week.  Even worse, anyone working in the retail world has variable hours ... as the weekly amount budgeted for wages is usually linked to roughly 30 percent of the sales from the week before.
In a province with no dental plan for human children, how can we expect people without deep pockets to pay for dental surgery for their pets?  Even a simply thyroid test can be well out of reach ... which is sad because the meds themselves are quite affordable.
I'm a middle aged grandmother not an economic expert ... yet even I can see that if there are not more proactive pet retention programs available that spiralling prices are going to create new challenges for animal rescue.
I get a better personal insurance rates because I belong to a group plan.  Now I'm not an insurance expert either, but I wonder if the official voice for the animals would be able to negotiate a 'group plan' for its members for pet insurance.  Something like that wouldn't just boost membership rates ... it might make the (rescue) job easier for everyone in the long run.
What time is it?  It is time to stop tripping over our own feet and try to see things through a new lens.
'You see things and say 'Why'? But I see things and say 'Why not?' G.B Shaw