I am 20 years old and a college student still living at home. In my unbiased opinion
I make a fabulous pet owner. Sure, I'm not rich or made of money... I "support" Jackson all by myself with no help from anybody and I MAKE it work. He gets top of the line food, he gets proper exercise, training, and socialization.
He gets great vet care, but I'm also not one of those people that will run to the vet at the sign of a
slight problem because I really don't have an extra $500 to "spare" if it's unnecessary. Back in January, he came up limping and it lasted for 3 days... so I took him in, and it ended up being a $400 vet visit. I felt like that was completely necessary because he was obviously in pain. He got neutered at a low cost clinic that I researched heavily before using and just because I only paid $65 to have my dog neutered does not make me any less of a pet owner that someone who pays $200++. I get him his necessary shots from that same clinic where they cost me $7 for a rabies vaccine where I would have paid alot more at a regular vet. So, yeah, often times I will find cheaper ways to do things... but if any huge emergency ever came up, I do have a plan set.
There's quite a few homeless people who own dogs. I don't think they should have to get rid of their dogs simply because they're homeless and poor. They get help from shelters and I saw on TV a homeless shelter that allows you to bring your pet(s) and they are really uplifting to have around. There was a Vietnam war veteran who refused to give up on his dog when a lot of others did. Sure, the dog may miss a meal or two, and doesn't get the top of the line food, collars, bedding, etc... but he's well taken care of and loved. Everyone goes through hardships in their life and I wouldn't ever think that someone, simply because they may be under-privileged, haven't earned the right to be owned by a dog.
There's a lot of rich people I know who have dogs and sure, they can afford them. But they live in a big ole' house with a big yard with little interaction, socialization, no training, or proper exercise. That, to me, is more abusive than not taking a dog to the vet every year. That's not to say that if a dog is pooping blood, for example, or having seizures, etc, should not go to the vet.... obviously that's not the case. But my uncle's Siberian Husky probably went to the vet all of 5 times in her whole entire life of 14yrs and was always healthy up until the last year.