Every time I let my dogs out into the yard, I glance out the side window to make sure the gate is closed. After a single time when it wasn’t and my one dog decided to try to greet the parked cars in the street, I’ve been paranoid about it.
Our dogs (and other pets) are our family and we want to keep them safe.
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I’m especially anxious whenever someone else is watching my boys — or when I’m watching someone else’s.
It’s not about lack of trust, but rather a persistent what-if sort of worry. Which is why this story shared by Redditor annaAutumn23 strikes such a nerve.
She posted it in the r/AmItheAsshole subreddit, with the question: “AITA for having my boyfriends dog put down without telling him?”
Based on the question alone, it’s understandable if you responded with “Duh!” but there’s more to the story.
AnnaAutumn23 explains that Luna was her boyfriend’s six-year-old Great Dane and that she “was the softest, goofiest creature.”
The couple had been living together for two years, so when the boyfriend was going to Amsterdam for a week AnnaAutumn23 and Luna were just going to get some quality time together.
AnnaAutumn23 knows that a Great Dane can be intimidating, so she always keeps her on a leash, even when walking in the woods.
That’s where they were when they encountered another woman with an off-leash dog. As they crossed paths, the woman grabbed the dog’s collar, holding it back from advancing on Luna.
That might have been it, but as annaAutumn23 moved farther down the path, she heard the woman shout.
The woman had lost her grip on the dog and it was charging toward them.
“It bites Luna’s throat, legs and stomach. I tried to pull the dog off of her but it was too strong and wouldn’t release its grip. It only stopped when Luna was laying on the ground not moving. The woman grabbed the dog and left.”
Yes, the woman left instead of dealing with the situation her off-leash dog caused.
Besides punctures on hr throat and legs, Luna had a large gash along her stomach. AnnaAutumn23 wrapped up the wound with her jacket, but wasn’t able to carry the large dog herself.
After a long time calling for help, a man and his son came and helped her carry Luna the nearly two miles back to the car.
At the emergency vet, the news was bad. The damage was irreparable and the best thing for Luna would be to end her suffering.
I can’t even imagine being in that situation.
“I was absolutely devastated, but I knew she was in agony and didn’t want her to suffer anymore. I pressed my head against hers whilst they injected her. As she went I told her over and over again what a good girl she was.”
Afterwards, she went to the police station to report the incident, but they didn’t seem interested.
Meanwhile, her boyfriend is still off in Amsterdam having a great time and oblivious of the situation back home.
“I didn’t tell my partner because I knew he would be heartbroken and I didn’t want to ruin his trip.”
Instead of telling him right away, annaAutumn23 bought a kit to make a clay paw print as a memento before Luna was cremated. She bought a beautiful urn with Luna’s name engraved on it.
At the airport, she broke the news. He didn’t speak to her for the rest of the drive home and then told her to move out.
“Did I do the wrong thing? Should I have interrupted his trip? Was I an asshole?”
People’s opinions were sharply divided, but ultimately, the consensus was that she absolutely should have called him. However, given the agony Luna was in, waiting for “permission” from him would prolong her pain.
But had he answered the phone, it could have at least given him the chance to say goodbye to Luna over the phone.
AnnaAutumn23 accepted their judgment with grace.
“Thank you to everybody that has taken the time to write a well thought out response. I absolutely accept the judgement of people telling me ITA for not telling my partner sooner. If I could go back and change things I would, and your comments have helped me to gain a better understanding of other perspectives.”
A few weeks after the original post, annaAutumn23 posted an update.
After putting up posters describing the dog and woman, she was able to locate them. Together, she and her boyfriend confronted the woman, who said that she’d “gotten rid” of the dog, but they could hear a dog barking.
They went to the police, who visited and confirmed that there was a dog matching the description, but besides a verbal warning about keeping it on a leash, there wasn’t anything they could do.
Meanwhile, her boyfriend has forgiven her and she’s moved back in.
Once he’s had time to process things, he decided that if she’d called him, it would have just soured the trip for everyone and he couldn’t have done anything anyway.
“There is an emptiness in the house now and too much room on the sofa. Every night we used to have to take everything off the coffee table and kitchen sides cause Luna would knock things on the floor while we slept. We still find ourselves doing this sometimes and then reality hits that we don’t need to and that breaks our hearts. We miss her so deeply.”
