Responsible pet owners

Mr. P. & I often joke that our local animal hospital will soon be able to build a new 9 Dogs Howling wing on the money they've made caring for our critters.

I've been in their waiting room when people came rushing in with a dog they found abandoned and/or injured at the side of the road, or some other canine find, so I know they deal with discarded animals all the time. Surely they know how much it costs to provide veterinary care for all those animals?

I recently found myself in a conversation with one of the vets at that facility, who seemed to think we hadn't been providing adequate care for our gang. Well, no. We give heartworm medicine and yearly exams/shots to the indoor dogs, and the rest (canine or feline) get only flea/tick meds, food and water. Unless they come up with some obvious disease or injury (sad to say, we've lost 2 cats to bad injuries), they're on their own. So when the vet says, "Why hasn't Lucy had [xyz]?", I can only say, "We have NINE dogs and 3 cats and just barely have enough money to feed them all!" And I want to ask, "Can we get some kind of government subsidy for running an animal shelter at our house?"