"I killed my pets to move in with my fiancé…"

MSNBC ^ | June 21, 2005 | Dr. Gail Saltz (advice columnist )

[grundle]

Q: About a year ago, I made the heart-wrenching decision to leave a great job, house, friends and family to move to Hawaii with my fiancé.

As part of this transition, I also chose to have my two beloved chow chow dogs put to sleep.

I adored those dogs, but I justified their sacrifice to the greater good of a successful relationship.

After six months, I am still tormented by memories of my dogs. The depths of anguish and loss make me think I got rid of them for purely selfish reasons, which is the kind of behavior I thought I reviled. I feel that I have gone from dog-lover to dog-killer in one trans-Pacific flight.

A: I am truly sorry you feel so wracked with guilt about your decision to put your dogs to sleep.

[ThisLittleLightofMine]

How selfish of her to put the dogs to sleep....why not adopt them out. I guess she just couldn't live with the thought that some one else might raise them. She would miss them too much. It is ironic that her excuse seems similar to the one women use for having abortions. Interesting.

[MD_2_BE]

UHHH ... they're DOGS! Not kids. Comparing this to abortion is intellectually dishonest in the extreme.

On another note, moving in with your boyfriend should not include euthanising your dogs. Give them away or send them to the Humane Society (of course that doesn't preclude them being put to sleep).

People are too attached to their pets. THEY'RE ANIMALS, NOT PEOPLE!!!

[MplsSteve]

That's what I was thinking too.

I've been to animal shelters before. There are a lot of people who prefer an adult dog to a puppy.

If these dogs were well-behaved, they would adapted fine to a new home as well as people.

I hurt this person feels remorse for the rest of their friggin' life.

[republican4ever]

Took the words right off my mouth...

[najida]

"Dear Dipstick,

Go put your head on the train track and wait for the 5:50 AmTrack.

I promise you'll be over your guilt in no time!"

[SlowBoat407]

Do I try to morph into the kind of steely person who makes the tough decisions, swallows the consequences and moves on? Can I ever be the warm-hearted, caring animal-lover I once was, or will I always be a fake?

You could always work for PETA.

Oh, and get over yourself. You did it a really stupid thing so you could shack up with a guy in a romantic place. Live with your choice or go work in an animal rescue shelter for a few years.

[randog]

Ba-da-boom!

[republican4ever]

If the relationship goes sour (50%-50% chance, plus the stress from the guilt she feels makes it worse), she'll regret it even more. The dogs would have never, ever betrayed her. Idiotic woman!

[HairOfTheDog]

And it's terrible that the advice columnist is telling her she shouldn't feel guilty about it.

Actually, I think she gave the only advice you can give:

Some actions turn out to be mistakes which cannot be undone. But it is possible to take positive action to counter their effects. In addition, of course, they can do much to teach you about yourself and enable you to be more mindful the next time.

What else can you say? You're crap, you don't deserve to get over this, you should wallow in shame for life?

[SlowBoat407]

To ease your guilt, you might want to consider getting another pet.

Just don't kill this one, okay?

[RegulatorCountry]

"I adored those dogs, but I justified their sacrifice to the greater good of a successful relationship."

What a complete idiot, and likely a somewhat sociopathic one at that. Why were the dogs not welcome? What does that tell this twit, as far as compatibility? Why were the dogs not placed with a no-kill shelter for adoption ... selfishness?

Love me, love my dogs. No ifs, ands or buts, as far as I'm concerned. If I'm ever forced to give them up, and it would have to be something incredibly serious for me to even consider it, the last thing on my mind would be to kill them.

[tanknetter]

The guy can write in to an advice columnist, but apparently doesn't know how to use Google to find sites like this one

"Chow Dog Rescue is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to the welfare, rescue and placement of abused, abandoned, neglected and unwanted chows and chow mixes in the 50 states, Canada and Northern Mexico."

[bigLusr]

From the article.

To ease your guilt, you might want to consider getting another pet.

Are you kidding me?

[rockabyebaby]

This is outrageous, I hope this woman suffers for the rest of her life. I wonder if she would have killed a child to further her precious relationship..........it's not like it's never happened before.......

[imfleck]

I suspect God will continue to put up with this since he's the one who gave Man free will.

[WashingtonStateRepublican]

This is very sad. I wonder if there is there any relation here to Michael Schiavo? You know, when one family member be it a spouse or family pet begins to become a nuisance, just kill it. Problem solved.

[MeanWestTexan]

"Why didn't she take them to a rescue or animal shelter so they could adopted."

Same reason people kill their unborn babies, I suppose: they're so selfish, they can't stand the thought of someone else raising them.

[AmericaUnited]

"Dear TroubledDogKiller, Since you seem to be a smart, sophisticated 'modern woman', just consider that you 'aborted' your dogs, and live guilt free and happily ever after."

[republican4ever]

No, it's not dishonest.
Serial killers start with animals, societies callous to the wellbeing, and life of animals are not among the most compasionate ones towards children, women and the elderly, either.
Things get worse little by little...

[Eagles Talon IV]

"I hope she is haunted for the rest of her sorry life."

I could not possibly agree more. I am stunned beyond comprehension that this women could claim she loved her dogs as she did and yet murdered them anyway. There is nothing, no amount of money, no person, no promise of any future good that could ever make me even think about giving up my either my dog or my cat.