My (25F) husband (26M) broke our dogs leg, I’m worried for the child I’m currently carrying.

A 25-year-old woman is grappling with a difficult and alarming situation involving her 26-year-old husband. After discovering their small Chihuahua mix had a broken hip, her husband admitted to losing his temper and beating the dog, leaving her shocked and worried. She recently found out she’s pregnant and is now deeply concerned about the possibility of his temper affecting their future child.

While her husband feels guilty and wants to distance himself from the pets, she’s unsure how to address her concerns about his anger and whether she can continue their relationship safely. She loves him but is questioning what steps to take next to protect herself, their pets, and their unborn child.

‘ My (25F) husband (26M) broke our dogs leg, I’m worried for the child I’m currently carrying.’

So, I’m a big pet lover. We have several dogs, reptiles, frogs and small animals. I work in the pet care industry and have recently lost my job due to the shutdown. That being the case, I’ve been home a lot more often, and I noticed the animals aren’t attached the him like me. I thought nothing of it, as I care for them mainly and had most of them before we got together.

Our pets have their own room, and yesterday I went to let out dogs out and our 5lb Chihuahua mix was limping and putting no weight on his leg. My husband jokingly said a few minutes before I checked on him, “I got Rufus to stop scratching the door.” I thought nothing of it until my poor dog was unable to move.

I took him to the vet and they did x-rays and let me know Rufus’s hip was broken. They said being so small it could be because he jumped off the furniture and hurt himself, as he’s rather old as well. My husband later admitted that he lost his temper, picked Rufus up the the scruff, and beat him.He feels incredibly guilty and wants nothing to do with any of the pets now.

I found out yesterday I’m pregnant, and I’m worried he may loose his temper with a newborn much worse then Rufus’s constant scratching. What do I do? I love this man and we’ve been married half a decade now.

Let’s dive into the reactions from Reddit:

Social_Ascetic −  Troubling that he would beat a small animal and then make a joke about it. Have you talked to him about your worries over his temper?

[Reddit User] −  Normal people don’t hurt animals. I’ll say that again. Normal people don’t hurt animals, especially their senior dogs. He broke your dog’s hip then made a joke about it. There is something deeply wrong inside of his mind for that to have happened.

Alleandros −  You kind of have your answer already, do you want to hear him one day say “I got the baby to stop crying”

thefaehost −  It sounds from your comments and the wording in your post that this has happened when you weren’t there- specifically the dog’s behavior AND that you basically had to notice the injury before he ever came clean.. I don’t think he would have. And someone else said that someone who seems nice until they lose their temper is a red flag.

If you feel safe, mandate he see a therapist. But do NOT let this go ignored.

Raptor-Claus2020 −  Been there done that… if they will hurt the animals they will hurt you. Both me and my kids are now victims of domestic violence and it started with similar situation

[Reddit User] −  he joked about hurting the dog… and he only started feeling bad when you caught the dog limping. He did this because the dog was simply scratching the door. imagine what he could do to a baby that’s crying through the night… or when the baby doesn’t listen to him or when the baby…doing anything that mildly irritates him.

I wouldn’t be surprised if he hurts your child. animal and child abuse goes hand in hand and this is just the beginning.

ChilliKitten −  That..would be a deal breaker for me…I wouldn’t hesitate to leave him..he just showed he is so volatile, that when he loses his temper he don’t mind harming the animals..he wasn’t even upset about the animal being hurt, he is only feeling guilty, because of you..not the harm done to the dog. He can go f**k him self for all i care. Bloody animal abuser.

CanisLupusBaileyi −  OP, did you know pretty much every serial k**ler and abuser began by hurting animals first before they move on to humans? What he did wasn’t an accident. I’m a Dependency Paralegal and one of the most common cases that we get are broken babies by fathers that beat them because they were crying.

OP, I am being serious, if your husband can break a little animals bones, he will do the same to your child. Maybe I’m too liberal but if you were my sister or my friend I would advice you to have an a**rtion and leave this psychopath in the making. Again, what he did wasn’t an accident and even laughed about “taking care of the barking”. Please, wake up.. ​

Edit: wanted to add. OP, have you told any of your loved ones about what your husband did? because not sharing this is a good indicator of your gut telling you that anyone who knows about this would tell you to leave him. Just think, if you’re about to start hiding secrets from your loved ones because deep down you know it’s fucked up and they would be shocked to hear, you need to be realistic and take action.

Mommy2A −  Run, please run. Don’t tell him about the child

Dustypigjut −  You should think long and hard about these two lines and how they are at odds: My husband jokingly said a few minutes before I checked on him, “I got Rufus to stop scratching the door.”. and He feels incredibly guilty and wants nothing to do with any of the pets now. The only thing he’s upset about is getting caught.