Often, people have deep connections with their pets—after all, even though it's an animal of a different species, the mutual connection can run deep. Sadly, pets usually live way shorter lives than their owners, leading people to experience the grief of losing such a beloved family member.
In fact, sometimes people refuse to acknowledge that their pet's time on this Earth has run its course and try to elongate it as much as possible. The OP's husband had trouble dealing with that. So, the woman decided to take matters into her own hands and relieve their pet of their suffering, which caused her husband to lose his mind.
More info: Reddit
While wanting to help your ill pet is a normal reaction, sometimes it's important to acknowledge that letting them go is the most humane choice
Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
A couple's 16-year-old dog's health started declining rapidly to the point where the pet was basically immobile
Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
The vets said that the best thing the couple could do was euthanize a dog, releasing it from its pain, but the couple chose to get a treatment first instead
Image credits: jet-po / Freepik (not the actual photo)
Sadly, the treatment was fruitless -- instead of improving the animal's life, it only prolonged its suffering, but the husband still insisted on continuing it and not getting euthanasia
Image credits: throwitallaway098776
Not being able to see her beloved pet suffer so much, the woman decided to bring the dog to euthanasia behind her husband's back so he couldn't stop her
Around 16 years ago, the OP and her husband adopted an 8-week chihuahua, who they named Baby Grinch.
Now, all these years later, sadly, the dog’s health has been steadily declining. Depending on various factors, a chihuahua's life span is somewhere between 14 and 16 years. So, knowing how old their dog is, the declining health is no surprise, but it doesn’t make it any less heartbreaking.
In the case of the original poster’s pet, the dog started to have trouble walking, seizures, and not having enough energy even to lift a head. When they took it to the vet, they found the dog was struggling with very serious health issues, and they could either medicate it or euthanize it.
Usually, euthanasia is recommended in incurable cases when letting the pet cross the rainbow bridge is the most humane way to let them go from their suffering. Yet, since it leads to people losing their beloved pet, quite often, they try out everything else to avoid this decision. The couple from today’s story is no different.
Sadly, the treatment only managed to elongate the pet’s life but not improve its health. The dog was still deteriorating right in front of its owner’s eyes.
So, the woman realized that the only humane thing to do was put the doggie down. It was clearly struggling every second of its life so much that you can barely even call such existence life – it was just suffering.
She started talking to her husband about such a possibility, but every time she did, he would shoot her down. Even when vets told him the same thing, he still refused such a choice.
Image credits: dmytro_sidelnikov / Freepik (not the actual photo)
Of course, his persistence is understandable – it’s hard to let go of a pet you loved so much for so long – Baby Grinch was basically the couple’s baby. After all, the grief an individual experiences from losing a pet is not that much different from the loss of a person.
At the same time, sometimes it’s important to acknowledge that the best thing you can do for your pet is to let them go, especially in situations like this, when an animal experiences nothing but suffering.
So, the OP decided to take matters into her own hands and bring Baby Grinch to euthanasia herself. She did it while her husband was at work, informing him right before it happened so he could say goodbye. Instead of doing so, he exploded – begged the wife not to do it, cursing her for such a plan and things like that, you can probably imagine.
She still did it, which resulted in quite a rift in their marriage. In fact, it even went to the point of him threatening divorce. So, the woman came online to ask whether she was such a terrible person for doing what she did.
Well, according to the netizens, she isn’t—as we already acknowledged, the dog was severely suffering, so easing its pain was the best thing that could’ve been done. In fact, they pointed out that the man was acting selfishly by not letting the dog go.
What do you think? Was the OP’s action justified? How would you have approached such a situation? Share your takes in the comments!
This caused the man to explode on her, but in netizens' eyes, she did the right thing by letting her pet go, as her husband's stance was a selfish one
