Our dog, Joey, and a black squirrel in our backyard are engaged in a death match. The score stands at squirrel 1, Joey 0.

I can’t blame Joey for not liking the squirrel. It runs across the top of our fence — JOEY’S turf, mind you — and will stop occasionally to chatter at him. It’s so loud you can hear it from inside the house with the windows closed.

I can’t blame the squirrel for not liking Joey. From his perspective, it’s HIS turf regardless of how many times Joey pees on the fence to settle the issue. The squirrel sees a 100-pound monster sprinting and leaping along the fence line determined to end the squirrel’s residency by force.

All that sprinting and leaping came to an end last week when Joey injured himself while trying cause the demise of his nemesis. He let out a high-pitched yelp (not befitting of a dog his size) and couldn’t put any weight on his left hind leg. The way he had it lifted made it look like his hip might have been dislocated.

Fearing the worst, we took him to a 24-hour animal emergency room in Colorado Springs.

That’s when the real horror started.

The original estimate for Joey’s care was over $900. For that, we got no guarantee of a diagnosis.

Understand that Renee and I are a union of a journalist and a teacher. That means we are not rich. And despite being a member of our family, Joey’s not covered on our health insurance.

We whittled down that list, swallowed hard, and agreed to care amounting to over $600. For that, we found out that his hip was OK and he MIGHT have partially torn a ligament in his knee (yes, dogs have knees). To be sure, we would need to pony up another $1,000 but again, there would be no guarantee of a firm diagnosis.

Renee has a colleague whose large dog had the knee surgery. He told us it had cost him $4,000.

During his convalescence, Joey would spend any hours we could not watch him in a crate. Large portions of his life would be confined to a cubicle, staring into a computer screen for endless hours … oh wait, that’s me.

We asked if these expenses could be spread out. They pitched what amounts to a veterinary services credit card. We declined.

Then they enthusiastically told us we should give Joey up to the Humane Society and they would do the surgery. We would never be able to see him again.

That was also unacceptable. During all of this, Joey started to put some weight on the injured leg. We took him home. He still has a limp at times and is reluctant to put and stress on his left hind leg.

The ordeal took over six hours, cost over $600 and accomplished almost nothing.

I’ve met some people who regard their pets like one of their children. We love Joey very much, but not anywhere near as much as our children. He’s a dog. He’s the best and most loving dog we’ve ever had, but he’s still a dog.

If I paid the $4,000, he’d be limp-free and we’d miss the mortgage payment. We’d all be living in a crate.

No doubt that squirrel would be chattering at us.