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15th January 2025
03:21pm GMT
A woman became so infuriated by her husband's decision to leave their dogs outside in the cold that she initiated divorce proceedings.
In a subreddit titled 'r/AITAH', which describes itself as a spin-off of the popular 'Am I The Asshole' subreddit, a user by the name of Budget-Response5525 wrote: "I (34f) am married to my husband (36m) and have been for 3 years. I have 2 dogs that I have had since before I married him. My dogs are like my children and he knows this and I thought that was how he thought of them.
She continued: "My job requires me to go on a lot of trips throughout the month. These trips can vary from 3 days to 3 weeks. Before I started this job I did talk to my husband as I explained I would be away a lot and it would leave him to take care of the house.
"Before you say it’s not his job to take care of the dogs. I did say he wouldn’t have to do much just feed them dinner as I would feed them breakfast (unless I’m away) and that’s it as I would walk them when I get home. He agreed and it all seemed fine.
"Now fast forward to a month ago, I had a work trip coming up and it was quite a long one," she added. "It would be for 2 weeks and I had prepared my husband for it, telling him what needs to be done. He told me not to worry and he would be fine so I left it at that.
"On the day I had to leave for my trip I said goodbye and got in the taxi, when I arrived I settled in and did the usual, however I got a text from my mum saying if something happened with my dogs? I was really confused and asked her what did she mean? She said she went round to drop of some things and saw my dogs tied up on the front porch. I was shocked and told her to send a picture."
The fed up wife continued: "I told her to untie my dogs and take them with her. And I would cancel my trip and come home. Once I got home and opened the front door, my husband was in the living room on the phone with someone sounding alarmed. I tried to act normal and walked up to him. He seemed surprised to see him and then very worried. I asked him what’s wrong and he said he lost my dogs. I knew what had really happened but I played along. I said how? And he sheepishly told me he had locked them outside for making too much noise and someone must have taken them. I was disappointed to say the least. I asked him why would he do that and he said they were annoying him and it shouldn’t be his responsibility.
"I went up stairs, packed a bag, and left to go stay at my mums. He asked me where I was going as I tried to leave the door. I said I was taking a break to think things over.
"Since I got to my mums he has been blowing up my phone calling me over dramatic. Even my mil has been calling me dramatic and selfish. I haven’t told him I have my dogs. But it’s not just about that it’s about the fact that I don’t trust him anymore. I have decided to get a divorce after speaking to my mum and best friend. My dogs are my priority."
The post received 11k views and over 7,200 comments.
Many people jumped to the poster's defence, with one user writing: "When I went on a two week long vacation back to my home country to visit my family and friends, my husband stayed behind with his two dogs and my cat. He is allergic to my cat and isn't super bonded with her. I was nervous about leaving her behind as I've had her for 13 years.
"Every day he would take a picture of my cat and send it to me, would give me updates on her health, behavior, etc. Why? Not because he loves the cat but because he loves me and understands how much my cat means to me. Your husband is a huge AH."
Another commented: "Not the asshole. You set a clear boundary. If he wasn't up to the task, he could've suggested boarding them. That may have pissed you off, but at least it would have been honest. Seeing as this wasn't your first trip, he's probably done it before."
While not many disagreed with Budget-Response5525's point, one person wrote: "Not sure why you married him in the first place tbh."
One user did outrightly disagree, writing: "I'm gonna go the opposite of most of the comments I see. The way this sounds is that your husband put them outside because they were loud, you hadn't even been gone 24 hours.
"I've had dogs my whole life, and yes, sometimes putting them outside when you're trying to do things is acceptable to do," they added. "What isn't acceptable is how you acted by telling your mother to take the dogs and allowing him to freak out because the dogs weren't where he left them. You then came home and still refused to tell him that you had the dogs taken somewhere else and that they weren't actually dognapped. You're the asshole."
