I see them as possessions of my family. I love them very much, but not as much as I love my children, and I won't ransom my kids and my kids' well being for my animals, regardless of how much I love them.
I have sold off horses and given away pets when for whatever reason they became impossible for me to support without it representing a significant change in my kids' lives (financial hardship, for example, or just plain hardship).
Right now I'm dealing with a very large, very exhuberant dog that I got before I realized I would be living where I am now (I honestly had no idea), and he's veerrry troubling because he's damaging things. I'm thinking (especially today) hard about whether or not to find him another home. It's a hard decision, but if it's between that and being homeless, guess what? He'd have to go.