Man Asks Girlfriend To Choose Between Their Daughter And Their Pets After Animals Destroy Their Home
Is he wrong for giving her an ultimatum?
Jonathan Borba, Bogdan Farca, Amber Kipp, Alvan Nee, Paige Cody and Alexandre Debiève / Unsplash A man is looking for advice amid growing tensions with his girlfriend over their pets.
The man and his girlfriend have been together for 12 years, and they have a lot of pets. We’re not just talking about a few dogs a cat, and maybe a goldfish — we’re talking about a mini zoo.
Recently, his girlfriend delivered their first child, a daughter, who’s now one month old and living with them in their home — but things have taken a turn for the worst.
The man and his girlfriend own over 20 pets.
“We have 4 bathrooms and 3 of them are occupied with animals,” the boyfriend started in a Reddit post. “1 of the bathrooms is owned by a bunny, the second is owned by 3 cats, and the third by another pair of cats. In our basement, we have 6 puppies (2 months old) that were born to a stray dog that my GF took around a year ago.”
In this paragraph, he mentions six puppies, five cats and one bunny, as well as a stray dog that they had taken in. 13 animals so far.
“Our ceiling (top floor) is completely occupied by another 3 cats. In our living room is the place where our chihuahuas live,” he continued counting. “On the stairs between the first and the second floor, there is a bunny which is in a ‘big cage’ I'd say.”
This brings the total so far to eight cats and another bunny for a total of two rabbits. The chihuahuas are not a part of the original 13, but we know there are at least four of them, according to a future paragraph, so we’ve added at least eight animals in this paragraph.
“We also have 6 Japanese Akitas, for which I bought a separate house so my mom can take care of them because I no longer can walk them and give them the proper love,” he added. This is a little bit of a side note, as these six dogs, do not live in their currently rented-out home. The man also adds that the stray dog lives in the garage out in the back.
Their over 27 animals don't appear to live in a totally safe environment. Throughout his post, the man used the words “poop” and “pee” on multiple occasions, which can only do so much justice in describing the smell, mess and overall state that their rented-out home was in.
He further mentioned that because of their 27 animals and their one-month-old daughter, he has to work two jobs, hire a cleaner and cannot take care of their daughter in the way he would like to. He also added that he wants to have more children but cannot imagine them living in this situation.
Their situation forced him to give an ultimatum to his girlfriend, telling her to choose between him and their daughter or the animals.
“In a recent conflict,” he concluded, “I decided I can no longer allow this and said that it's up to her to decide if she wants to live with me and our daughter or rather have all the animals (for whom she doesn't take care of).”
Unsurprisingly, people on Reddit rallied behind the new father's ultimatum, urging him to both remove their daughter from the situation and get his girlfriend professional help.
"This is disgusting animal abuse and you need to get every animal possible out immediately," one person wrote, pointing out the fact that this situation is not only harmful to the family but also to the pets. In fact, this seems to be a clear case of animal hoarding, which the ASPCA identifies as an issue that occurs when people home more animals than they can adequately care for.
Animal hoarding is extremely dangerous for all those involved.
While owning multiple animals does not always indicate animal hoarding, the ASPCA notes that it becomes a problem when the home begins to fall into disrepair, the animals' nutritional standards can't be maintained and odors and bodily expulsions begin taking over the home.
Animal hoarding can lead to severe health complications for all involved, especially a newborn, such as bacterial infections and parasites.
"There is no way that baby's respiratory system isn't suffering!" one person wrote in the comments, adding that "The ammonia in cat urine, especially when left to sit for prolonged periods, is dangerous to a healthy adult! That infant needs out NOW!"
Another person encouraged the man to consider getting professional help for his girlfriend, writing that her animal hoarding is a red flag for parenting. Research has shown that animal hoarding is tied to other psychological disorders that unaddressed could certainly affect a child's development.
Isaac Serna-Diez is a writer who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics.