Ok this is my first ever reddit post, so I hope I do it right.
I love listening to the podcast and im so happy the videos are on Spotify now, so I can enjoy them without ads.
I’m female, in my late 30s and my male partner ‘Rick’ is in his early 50s.
He lives with his Daughter, his brother ‘David’, who’s late 40s and his brothers son.
The kids are over 18 but still at home. Also living with them is ‘Madison’. She is David’s wife and also late 40s, they separated years ago but stayed friends and he’s been supporting her while she’s had health issues.
Her health issues have been serious at times and she cant drive right now. But he can and his job is flexible enough that he has time off during the week.
David and Madison have a chocolate lab called ‘Buttons’, he’s about 15 years old and you can tell. He’s got several large tumours all over his body, his nails are overgrown and curling and he can barely walk at times.
They haven’t taken him for a check up at the vets in years.
When he first got a lump they did take him to the vet and at the time they said it was a fatty tumour and not to worry.
So they didn’t.
This poor dog spends about 20 hours a day sleeping in one spot. He struggles to get to the kitchen for food and then outside to go toilet and that’s it.
I’ve been concerned for a very long time and both my partner and I have tried talking to them about it, but they brush it off.
Last Friday my partner and I were having dinner in his garden, when I spotted the dog struggling up the steps. He couldn’t straighten his hind legs, so his ankles were on the floor.
I was so upset I left.
My partner spoke to Madison about it, she said he’d been walking funny for a few days but he was fine.
I told my partner that I couldn’t stay there anymore as I couldn’t take seeing the dog in that state.
I said if they didn’t take him to the vet, then I would call animal services.
Out of respect to my partner I waited till the end of the day Monday, to give them time to get the dog to the vet.
They didn’t do it, they brushed him off again.
During one conversation David told Rick that he ‘didn’t want to take him to the vet because the vet would put him down’.
So true to my word I called animal services.
They arrived Tuesday evening and that’s when the shit hit the fan.
As the welfare officer arrived we went off swimming (we go every week on the same day), so it wasn’t till we got out of the pool that he could read his messages.
Apparently the dog is fine, he doesn’t need to see a vet and that painkillers could cause him to break his leg???
I am shook!!
David and Madison now hate me and I’m banned from the house.
I don’t actually care about them hating me. To be honest I don’t like them, I never have, I just pretended because I love Rick and he lives with them. I’ve not spent as much time there during the last year, because of them.
But my partner still has to live with them for the foreseeable future and they are angry at him too.
I did phone animal services back up today to ask if they could explain to me how they can say a dog of that age and condition is fine. The initial woman on the phone couldn’t understand it either. Especially when I said that their officer had said there was no need for him to see a vet.
I am waiting for the officer to get back to me.
I always thought that the advice was to get your pets checked more regularly as they age.
Once my pets hit 12 they go at least once a year for a senior health check.
But no. Apparently I’m wrong.
Madison has said I should have spoken to her on Friday and not called animal services.
But when I spoke to her last year about him struggling to walk she brushed me off. Said he’s quick enough when there’s cake that’s been left out.
In all honesty I was too upset to be calm and talk to her. I would have shouted and caused an argument that way. I know what I’m like, once my emotions kick in I struggle to listen and talk. So I leave, I walk away and walk until I’m calm again.
But now my partner is suffering and will have to look for somewhere else when their lease ends.
So AITA for calling animal services on my partners brother?
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Backup of the post’s body: Ok this is my first ever reddit post, so I hope I do it right.
I love listening to the podcast and im so happy the videos are on Spotify now, so I can enjoy them without ads.
I’m female, in my late 30s and my male partner ‘Rick’ is in his early 50s.
He lives with his Daughter, his brother ‘David’, who’s late 40s and his brothers son.
The kids are over 18 but still at home. Also living with them is ‘Madison’. She is David’s wife and also late 40s, they separated years ago but stayed friends and he’s been supporting her while she’s had health issues.
Her health issues have been serious at times and she cant drive right now. But he can and his job is flexible enough that he has time off during the week.
David and Madison have a chocolate lab called ‘Buttons’, he’s about 15 years old and you can tell. He’s got several large tumours all over his body, his nails are overgrown and curling and he can barely walk at times.
They haven’t taken him for a check up at the vets in years.
When he first got a lump they did take him to the vet and at the time they said it was a fatty tumour and not to worry.
So they didn’t.
This poor dog spends about 20 hours a day sleeping in one spot. He struggles to get to the kitchen for food and then outside to go toilet and that’s it.
I’ve been concerned for a very long time and both my partner and I have tried talking to them about it, but they brush it off.
Last Friday my partner and I were having dinner in his garden, when I spotted the dog struggling up the steps. He couldn’t straighten his hind legs, so his ankles were on the floor.
I was so upset I left.
My partner spoke to Madison about it, she said he’d been walking funny for a few days but he was fine.
I told my partner that I couldn’t stay there anymore as I couldn’t take seeing the dog in that state.
I said if they didn’t take him to the vet, then I would call animal services.
Out of respect to my partner I waited till the end of the day Monday, to give them time to get the dog to the vet.
They didn’t do it, they brushed him off again.
During one conversation David told Rick that he ‘didn’t want to take him to the vet because the vet would put him down’.
So true to my word I called animal services.
They arrived Tuesday evening and that’s when the shit hit the fan.
As the welfare officer arrived we went off swimming (we go every week on the same day), so it wasn’t till we got out of the pool that he could read his messages.
Apparently the dog is fine, he doesn’t need to see a vet and that painkillers could cause him to break his leg???
I am shook!!
David and Madison now hate me and I’m banned from the house.
I don’t actually care about them hating me. To be honest I don’t like them, I never have, I just pretended because I love Rick and he lives with them. I’ve not spent as much time there during the last year, because of them.
But my partner still has to live with them for the foreseeable future and they are angry at him too.
I did phone animal services back up today to ask if they could explain to me how they can say a dog of that age and condition is fine. The initial woman on the phone couldn’t understand it either. Especially when I said that their officer had said there was no need for him to see a vet.
I am waiting for the officer to get back to me.
I always thought that the advice was to get your pets checked more regularly as they age.
Once my pets hit 12 they go at least once a year for a senior health check.
But no. Apparently I’m wrong.
Madison has said I should have spoken to her on Friday and not called animal services.
But when I spoke to her last year about him struggling to walk she brushed me off. Said he’s quick enough when there’s cake that’s been left out.
In all honesty I was too upset to be calm and talk to her. I would have shouted and caused an argument that way. I know what I’m like, once my emotions kick in I struggle to listen and talk. So I leave, I walk away and walk until I’m calm again.
But now my partner is suffering and will have to look for somewhere else when their lease ends.
So AITA for calling animal services on my partners brother?
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
How on earth does a dog who can hardly walk get a clean bill of health??? Feels like something is missing. Was it the brother who told you the dog id actually fine? I wouldn’t trust them….
Yes and no…chocolate labradors only live about 10.7 years on average. Yellow or Black labradors live a couple of years longer. This dog should have been put to sleep months ago. David’s hunch was accurate that a vet could likely do nothing to help this dog. I would give them their space until the dog has been gone for a couple of months. Then and ONLY then maybe send a card with both their names on it explaining how it just caused you unbearable sadness to see a dog suffering that way but you understand David’s struggle to let a 15 year best friend get a lethal injection. They might not forgive you right away, but it will make future weddings and funerals less awkward.
I think they knew the officer and paid him off. I had a similar thing happen when I was a teenager, I was helping a neighbor with her horses and one was especially sick/emaciated (I had been trying to figure out the food situation as I was a teenager with no money). A friend of mine called animal control and when they came out the owner of the house/horses knew the officer, he said nothing was wrong and very little was done. I’m still haunted by it.
You need to keep calling them, the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
There is no way in hell that animal services officer can tell by “looking at the dog” that he is not suffering. That dog is absolutely suffering and needs to be seen by a vet. what a wierd situation.. OP, I would have 100% done the exact same thing in your shoes, and honestly probably much sooner. Animals don’t have a voice and we have to stand up and be their voice whenever the need arises. My heart is breaking for that poor animal.
Wait so the dog has a broken leg from pain pills? If the dog hasn’t been to the vet in years, where did the pain pills come from and why would they not need to see a vet about the broken leg?