The Internet Can’t Decide Whether This Woman Who Put Down Her Boyfriend’s Dog Deserved To Get Dumped

If you are an animal lover be warned, this story is very tragic and upsetting, so it can be triggering to some.

If you’re a dog owner then you probably walk your babies daily. Most of the time, we won’t encounter any problems on those strolls. Occasionally though, we will come across an aggressive dog or two, but usually, those dogs have owners who take the proper precautions to ensure that their pets don’t cause any harm.

Unfortunately, the following story serves as a reminder to us to always remain on alert when we’re out walking with our dogs.

Reddit user annaAutumn22 posted in the Subreddit r/AmITheA**hole. She’d put her boyfriend’s dog down without telling him, and wanted confirmation as to whether or not she was wrong for doing so. However, she states that it was out of malice on her behalf.

First off, let’s shed some light on the background of this story. This Redditor said she has been living with her boyfriend and his dog Luna, for two years. Six years ago he acquired the 130-pound Great Dane, and all three of them were a tight-knit family. Anna would often take care of the dog all by herself, so it wasn’t a big deal when her boyfriend went on a week-long bachelor trip with his friends.

She set out on a walk with Luna, who was on a leash, and the two of them headed for the secluded wooded area where they’d usually go walking.

Then what happened next was an unnecessary tragedy.

As she explained, “We walked past a woman with another dog that wasn’t even on the lead but when she saw us she grabbed her dog’s collar and walked it past us. It was straining to get to Luna. About a minute later I heard this woman shouting [at] her dog and turn round and it’s barreling straight at us. It bites Luna’s throat, legs, and stomach. I tried to pull the dog off 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.”

There is so much that is wrong with this incident – the most glaring being that the woman who Anna encountered, didn’t have her aggressive dog on a leash! Not only that, but she fled the scene after her dog attacked another dog! That is so incredibly wrong!

Based on her actions when they walked past, she clearly knew that her dog wasn’t well-behaved around others – so that should be reason enough to keep your dog on a leash at all times.

AnnaAutumn22 then explained Luna’s injuries, saying that she’d sustained puncture marks to her throat and legs, as well as a large gash in her stomach where her intestines were visible. She wasn’t strong enough to lift Luna up by herself, so she screamed for help until a man and his teenage son walking by were able to help her carry Luna back to the car – two miles away.

She drove her straight to the vet, where she was told Luna wouldn’t survive her injuries. The vet said the kindest thing to do for Luna, would be to put her to sleep – and that’s exactly what she did. Obviously, this was a very difficult and devastating decision to come to, but unfortunately, it was Luna’s only option.

However, she didn’t say anything to her boyfriend about it.

She justified it by saying, “I didn’t tell my partner because I knew he would be heartbroken and I didn’t want to ruin his trip. I went to a baby store and bought an imprint kit, and made a clay imprint of Luna’s paw. I then got Luna cremated and brought a beautiful urn with her name engraved. When I picked him up from the airport I broke the news to him as gently as I could. He didn’t talk to me for the rest of the drive. As soon as we got home he told me I should have contacted him before putting Luna to sleep and told me to pack my stuff and move out. This was 2 weeks ago and he hasn’t changed his mind.”

While it was wrong of her to not call her boyfriend to tell him what was happening, it was just as bad that he asked her to move out straight away. Given the complexity of this situation with all its complicated layers, it’s only natural that it stirred quite the reaction on Reddit. There were plenty of comments going up in the comments section – from both sides.

Felinelawspecialist claimed the OP was in the wrong because she didn’t call her boyfriend immediately when it happened, and also because she started the grieving process without him.

Totally a going point, yet the decision to put Luna to sleep was a snap decision so there is that.

As Hawks2020 wrote, “It’s extremely unlikely that the dog would have received any other form of treatment. If she called her boyfriend after the vet refused to operate, the dog likely would have died an agonizing death before she could get it to another vet, who likely would just tell her the same thing. The only thing to do in this situation was putting the dog down, unfortunately.”

And yes, I agree that in the moment of having to make a decision on what is best for the welfare of the dog was overwhelming and happened so quickly, what I don’t understand is what came after. She went and got a paw print done, as well as picked out an urn and had Luna cremated – all without saying anything to her boyfriend? I don’t know if I could go a whole week keeping something like that to myself.

Some people on the post are claiming that she was probably in shock, which very easily could have been the case. However, she had several days to process the tragedy and grieve Luna, who originally belonged to her boyfriend, without him being there.

While not wanting to ruin her boyfriend’s trip seems like a nice gesture, that really only applies if you accidentally break their favorite mug or shred their favorite sweater – I don’t think it applies to life and death decisions. What do you guys think?