Do people really think we're spending too much on our dog?

My dog Oreo injured a disc in her neck and will have to have spinal surgery. I believe the bill is about $3,500 right now and still growing, but she absolutely has to have it or else she'll most likely end up paralyzed. With it she will almost definitely be fine. When we were telling someone they made the comment that that was way too much to spend when we're already absolutely broke and still paying off a bill for my ferret's cancer removal surgery a year and a half ago. Several other people have also made comments about it being too much. I think that's so freakin wrong! You don't just give up on a family member no matter HOW much or how broke you are. We basically charged it without knowing when we could ever pay it but my dog is worth more than a formerly perfect credit score. I don't think there's ever an excuse to not do absolutely everything you can for an animal, no matter what. Even if you have to sell everything you own and than make the rest illegally there's STILL no excuse, but it hasn't even come to that, as my mother has a really high card limit from having such perfect credit for like 35 years. So what do you think? How far would you go for the family pet, uming they would actually benefit from treatment and not just suffer?