I have no problems with people paying for animals, as long as they are taking care of them. As a cop, I've seen a lot of the bullshit out there. You don't even want to begin with the abuses of animals. That is an entirely different topic however.
I don't think you've totally turned your back on the option of possibly doing magic. If you had, you could have broken The wand yourself, and called it good. You might dream it, but maybe the whole point is that your waking life gives you options to become what you dream, or not. I can't tell you what I would do. I was a pretty good guy, who did some really stupid things. I also had zero magical abilities. It's kind of a bummer to be a plain old human.