It's like having a kid. If you can't afford to feed yourself, don't have a child. If you can't afford a roof over your head, don't have a child. But if you can't afford designer clothes and so on? Do little kids care? Just like the person who made the comment about homeless people owning dogs, I think both dogs and kids care more about the time you spend with them than the stuff you buy them.

I think sometimes people are nuts, frankly. I had a friend who owned a farm who had "barn cats". They were feral cats that she would adopt, make sure they got their annual shots and supplemental food, and they basically lived free lives hunting vermin on her farm. The local shelter wouldn't allow her to adopt a particular antisocial cat when they found out she was going to use it as a barn cat. But the thing is - this cat was not suitable as a house cat. So it ended up euthanized. I can't see how that is a better solution!