TOW #3 - How Much is Too Much to Spend on a Sick Pet?

In How Much is Too Much to Spend on a Sick Pet?, Mark Oppenheimer writes about the decisions made when treating a dog with an illness.  Mark Oppenheimer, who is a contributing writer to opinion articles in magazines, has a Ph.D in religion from Yale University, and has taught at Yale, Stanford, Wesleyan, Boston College, and NYU.  Written for any pet owners, his main purpose is to show where the line is drawn when spending money for treated an illness for a dog.  Mark Oppenheimer appeals to logos and establishes anecdotes in his writing to help achieve his purpose.  Throughout the article he addresses many philosophers’ opinions to help add to his writing.  He says, “While the psychologist Hal Herzog has written that spending ‘$10,000 on chemotherapy for your beloved golden retriever is no more unethical than spending it on a two-week vacation in Tuscany,’ utilitarians, like Peter Singer, would caution that your money would do more good in Oxfam’s coffers than in a pensione.” (Oppenheimer). This quote helps establish logos to show different opinions of certain experts. This achieves his purpose by giving reasoning for spending money on your pet.  Oppenheimer uses yet another rhetorical device known as anecdotes.  As he refers to his own sickly pet named J.J., he says, “Ultimately, I reacted to my dog’s illness not too differently from how most of us react to the illnesses of people we love. We spend a certain amount of money without thinking twice. At a certain point, we wonder if we need to just let go. If the diagnosis sounds terminal, and the patient is already relatively old, that can simplify matters.” (Oppenheimer).  This is a great example of how this author incorporates anecdotes to help achieve his purpose.  By explaining his own personal story it gives reasoning to the reader and helps to show where to draw the line of spending money on your pet.  In my opinion, I believe that he achieved his purpose effectively, making me feel more prepared for a situation to come like this for my own dog.