Should poor people be allowed to have pets? [View All]

If poor people cannot afford to do the following things, should they be banned from owning or caring for animals?

--Feed their pets a quality, preferably human-grade pet food.
--Buy the $40 FrontLine or Advantage flea treatment every 3-4 months for every animal that might get outside.
--Take their pet to the vet for shots, deworming, and all other "routine" care. (Not counting the rabies vaccine, which is both inexpensive and necessary for public safety.)
--Have money set aside to pay for emergency vet treatment in case of accident, illness, or injury.
--Get their pet spayed or neutered immediately.

Should the inability to do all (or even most) of these things legally disqualify someone from owning or caring for an animal? Should there be any exceptions--for example, people doing rescues of an animal that would otherwise starve? Furthermore, should the inability to do certain things for a pet be consider a form of animal cruelty? Just how far is "too far" when considering who's allowed to have pets and who is not?

What about people who CAN easily afford to do these things, but choose not to? Is it more a standard of caring "to the best of your ability" than a solid line in the sand? Where should the line be drawn when determining which things are absolutely necessary, if we were to have a legal standard for pet ownership in America?

The reason I ask is that I've seen a lot of mixed messages when it comes to this issue. It can be confusing, as well as morally arbitrary at times, and I think it's worth talking about. Understandably, this is a sensitive issue for a lot of people here, so it would be nice if we could do this without flaming each other to ashes.

Edit: People seem to be getting the wrong idea. I guess I tried *too* hard to be neutral. For the record, I am of the opinion that there should NOT be any kind of legal restriction on pet ownership, so long as the owner is not a hoarder or an abuser. I am a poor person who has been told by OTHERS that because I cannot afford to XYZ, I shouldn't be allowed to have pets. It hurt. I just wanted to see if this was something that a lot of people felt.