The oppressor classes of cats and dogs are really taking a solid biffing these days!
But let's see -- $17 billion per year minus $4 billion per year is $13 billion per year, divided by 6 billion persons is $2.16 per year. $2.16 is the additional total per year needed to provide each person in the world with basic health and nutrition! And instead the unconscionable White Man is turning it all over to Fido, and blithely paying several hundred dollars per month in taxes or health insurance, too, probably just to keep the money away from Kofi Annan, since we know only $2.16 is needed.
Still, Fido's not doing too well. "Americans and Europeans" is a pretty vague set, but let's say it's 500 million people, a pretty conservative guess. Most people who think about the question think there are at least half as many cats and dogs in Europe and the U.S. as there are people, and if we split 13 billion into 250 million parts we come up with $52 a year, or just a dollar a week. That is not living very high on the hog, even for a dog. In fact, it's downright abusive. So Heinrich is not only starving the world, he's abusing his dog. Kill them both. And the hog, too.
I'm wondering why house pets are such a lightning rod for the ire of the nobility and their unusual arithmetic skills. Any guesses?