Dog ID issues

There's an article on the BBC website which highlights responsible dog ownership and the importance of micro chipping. The subject of the article is a guy who's dog escaped from a communal garden , was impounded by the council but the owner didn't have the funds to recover his dog. A stranger then offered the owner £68 to pay the recovery fee. Its an interesting one , should people own dogs if they don't have the funds to look after them? or is this a chap that's fallen on hard times ? Either way , its good news that the dog is reunited with its owner. Here's a link to the page