Do you think people who abandon their pets should be fined?

Most people make the serious mistake of acquiring a pet with a fixed aim not necessarily for companionship. For example, some pet owners of dogs purchase them because of their perceived aggressiveness to intruders to serve as sentries. With time, the dog inevitably ages resulting in lethargy and passivity to strangers. Some pet owners, ungrateful to their charges after a lifetime of service dump them under the cover of darkness for rescue centres to adopt them. I cannot fathom the heartlessness of this because the animal should be pensionable in another existence not discarded at its hour of need. Some pet owners technically dump their dogs even without making them leave the confines of their homes. They no longer give them food or other forms of sustenance and adopt a cruel live and let live attitude. Its not uncommon to see such pets looking harassed and harangued with their ribs sticking out as they forage for leftovers. So I posit that pet owners who dump their pets should be punished with hefty fines being considered as a deterrent. In my country, animal advocates are not visible where it really matters. But some cases of cruelty against pets are successfully prosecuted though the deterrent aspect against committing the crime is sorely lacking.