Financial barriers to veterinary care result in preventable animal suffering when owners cannot afford necessary treatment. Pet insurance and low-cost care programs are welfare interventions for economically constrained households.
Veterinary access is a welfare equity issue. Pets of lower-income households experience preventable suffering when their owners cannot afford necessary care, not because those owners care less but because they have fewer resources. The welfare of companion animals should not be fully contingent on the economic circumstances of their owners, and programs that expand veterinary access — insurance, low-cost clinics, subsidized programs — directly reduce suffering that would otherwise be unavoidable. Building the infrastructure of accessible veterinary care is a welfare intervention that benefits the animals most likely to go without necessary treatment.