[kaashif]

There is an even more callous meaning that you didn't pick up on for some reason - they're not suggesting the owners should come up with $5000, they're saying the owners should kill or otherwise get rid of their pets once they can't afford them.

I think people are missing that the point here is that the prices aren't being set in a competitive market, so $5000 may just be a monopoly price. Maybe pet owners should be forced to pay the cost of treatment, but whether that's $5000 or not is what the FTC is concerned with.

[snapetom]

Calling that a monopoly price shows ignorance on what a monopoly is. Even large metropolitan areas have just a handful of emergency vet hospitals. Emergency vet hospitals don't have an army of vets on standby to handle cases. 2-3 is common and they might be just interns/residents supervised by a more experience vet. Scarcity and lack of supply have a much greater effect than collusion.

Pet owners should know this before getting a pet, or properly plan.