Haha. I am more likely to give to a gutter punk on the road than anybody else. I had a good friend who would give anyone her last dollar and spent a lot of time on the road before we met. I think of her every time I see a punk on the road. At least they will be moving on with the money I provide, someone else's problem, no instant Karma.
I no longer would condescend to pull the whole "I won't give you money but I'll buy you a sandwich" BS, but for some reason punk+dog annoys me. It's a similar condescension along the lines of "I know better how you need to be spending the money I give you and it ain't on dog food". I know it's petty I should work on that.
That's funny, I feel like I would rather they spend the money on dog food than food for themselves, frankly. I mean, if they have $5 and that's their only option. I guess I could be shy and make an argument that "both people and humans can eat dog food," but it's really more the fact that I feel when you assume responsibility for a pet, the pet should be treated and cared for in ways very similar to a child, in that you, the owner, are now responsible for sustaining another being's life. 'Course, who knows how any panhandlers got their pets, when they have them - maybe they were street strays that banded together - but by god if you are going to have a dog with you that is your companion I expect that you will take care of it. If you choose not to take care of an animal you voluntarily came into possession of, then you don't deserve to take care of that animal. (Of course - take a pet from a panhandler because he's not taking care of it - then who will?)