I (38M) am moving to a city several states over for work. My company is opening up a new branch and I was selected to be a part of upper management for the new team. I don’t know why they picked me at all, I haven’t had much managerial experience besides my current position as a team lead for a group of six people. My boss told me that she would really like me to help create a new team for the new branch due to my problem solving and teaching skills, but I would have to move to the area for said position. I don’t mind moving myself, I’m just worried for my dog. I’ve had good ol’ Jerry for about eleven years now. I got him when he was two at my local shelter. He walked a little funny but had the most happy of faces when he first saw me, so I knew he was the dog for me. He’s been having some troubles with his hip and kidneys for about a year or so now. I believe his previous owner used to neglect and abuse him. I seriously don’t think my poor boy could survive the trip, and I don’t know if I could find a vet in time to help my baby boy. No one in my family is willing to take them, the allergy gene skipped a generation for me and they all aren’t too keen on dogs, especially one in Jerry’s condition. I seriously don’t know what to do. On one hand, I could get my dream job and be set for life, and in the other I get to keep my best friend with me for a few more months to a year and miss out on my promotion or potentially get fired! I talked to a shelter and they told me they’d give him a comfortable place to be, but I don’t want my poor boy to be sad and alone in a place like a shelter. I’m bringing him this upcoming Tuesday, I think he’d want me to be successful.
Edit: I forgot to mention in the initial post that my vet told me that Jerry couldn’t make the trip.
YTA, you made a commitment. Drive the dog and take breaks along the way. I transported a tetra fish from michigan, to South Carolina, and then to Virginia. The dog can make a drive.
YTA. That’s all.
You’re asking if you’re an asshole for abandoning a dying dog you’ve had for years? What the hell do you think?
YTA. How would you feel about going into the nursing home when you’re old, sick and no longer any use to your family?
You’re all the dog knows.
Why wouldn’t the dog make it? It’s just going to be sleeping in the car.
Drive for a few hours and then stop at a hotel. Dog should be fine.
YTA. Why wouldn’t the dog be able to just lie in your car on the way? You can move with the dog. Just make sure he has a good amount of room and get some anti anxiety meds if he’s not a good traveller. You’re creating artificial barriers here.
YTA
Your dog would choose you, in all the ways it matters. YTA.
YTA.
Of course he will survive the trip. How are you going, by bicycle? Find a way, People travel with companion animals all the time.
He will not survive a shelter of course. He will soon die there. Diseases spread so fast in shelters, that the elderly, young, frail and immuno-compromised get sick quickly and die afraid and – in the case of animals abandoned by their human – heartbroken.
But hey, at least you’ll save money on transport
YTA about as much as it is possible to be, if you do that. Just really terrible.
Username does not check out. You’re looking for an excuse to abandon your sick dog. YTA
If you think your dog is in so much pain you can’t slow trip drive him across the country, then it is time to talk euthanasia. OR… talk to your freaking vet about appropriate pain killers etc to make the move.
YTA. Do you have any idea how painful and terrifying it would be for your dog to be given to a shelter? WTF.
Yeah just admit you’re a shit pet owner. Poor fucking dog oh my god
I don’t even like dogs like that and I could NEVER
YTA, your dog can handle traveling. What your dog may not be able to handle is being abandoned. Your dog is really unlikely to get adopted at his age and condition. You don’t deserve your dog or your job.