I have a happy home with a great husband and a six-year-old daughter. I would have liked to have had more children, but my husband won’t risk it since a pregnancy could put my life in danger…. It has been very difficult to get used to the idea of not having more children….
I convinced my husband to let us have a pet…. but the day after the puppy arrived, my husband became so ill from allergies that… he has since moved temporarily out of the house….
To restore our family unity, I have to return the puppy to a foundation for them to find a home for it. But when I spoke to them, I felt guilty because they told me that I would be abandoning my pet and causing it emotional harm…. It hurts me to think that I would be mistreating the puppy by abandoning it.
Dear Friend,
We are very happy to hear about your happy home! You are truly blessed to have a wonderful husband and daughter.
Our family is very familiar with allergies of various sorts, so we can understand your problem. Some people, like our daughter, have allergies that cause their throats to close up so that they can’t breathe when exposed to pet hair. Your husband must have a similar allergy.
If you had known in advance about your husband’s allergies, you could have requested a hypoallergenic dog. Certain breeds do not shed and therefore do not cause allergy reactions. But you didn’t know, so bringing the puppy home led to a crisis that you could not have foreseen. You feel badly about it now, but it was not something that you did on purpose.
We also understand the love that animal rescue workers have for animals. Some of them believe that pets are just as important as people. So we can imagine the guilt they caused you to feel.
We, too, have a love for pets and care about their welfare. We even believe that they become members of the family. Research shows that they can improve the well-being of their owners, especially singles and seniors. (1)
However, when a choice has to be made, the welfare of the human being must come first. You knew that, but giving up the puppy probably seemed like giving up a chance to add to your family. You have much love to give, and you are very sad that this attempt couldn’t work out.
We have a couple of suggestions for you. Our highest recommendation is that you consider adopting a child. Depending on the country that you live in, it can be very inexpensive to adopt a child who is in foster care, waiting every day for loving parents to appear. We ourselves adopted two children out of foster care, at ages ten and eleven, and they have greatly enriched our lives.
Our other suggestion is that you ask God to open your eyes to all those around you who desperately need the love that you have to give. Many organizations have volunteer opportunities to serve orphans, the elderly, and the ill. Additionally, living close by there are probably single parents who could use a helping hand. Jesus Himself said that when we help others, it is as if we are helping Him. (2)
We wish you well,
Linda
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1 “About Pets and People,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 15 April 2019
2 Mt 25:34-46