dovrosenbaum………..
to put it bluntly, who are you to decide whether I should spend money on a veterinarian bill or have to give that same amount of money away to “serve the needs of the people?”
That sounds like the dogma of a totalitarian or Communist state.
What I earn is mine. I give far more than the biblical tithe in tzedaka. If it gives my family pleasure to have pets and maintain them in a healthy state, it is not for someone else to decide that ‘my money’ should have gone to meet needs of other people.
That attitude is no different than begrudging my wife a new dress for Pesach or suggesting we eat noodles instead of beef, because the additional cost could have been spent on the needs of other people.
As long as I make the money and am properly charitable, I am entitled to spend the rest as I see fit, as long as it is legal and moral.
Besides, Veterinarians are entitled to make a living. They have great expenses in their education and equipping a practice. Who are you to say they shouldn’t have a chance to recover the cost and provide for their families.
As long as I am not asking others for financial help for my family, you have no right to pass judgment on my spending.
Before Pesach, I am marrying off a daughter. I am not going into debt to do so. It may be a more lavish simcha than you think necessary. But it will provide parnassah for the venue, caterer/workers, orchestra, florist, baker, and other vendors. What’s more for every dollar spent on my daughter’s simcha 50 cents is being donated to a Kallah fund. I have no obligation to do so, I do it gladly.