Yvette Ramos raised her right hand and swore to tell the truth in a West Roxbury courtroom on a recent fall day.
The Canton single mother was facing a civil lawsuit in small claims court for $471, a debt she owed to Angell Animal Medical Center in Jamaica Plain to care for her two dogs.
At the informal trial, Ramos told a clerk magistrate that an attorney for the hospital had just offered to help her set up a payment plan — but she simply couldn’t afford to pay…