It’s been years since my cousin wrote me a letter during my mid-teens telling me she received disposable pets for Christmas that year.  I knew immediately that she actually meant posable pets but I didn’t correct her.  Recently that term popped into my head again because I learned John just acquired two poodle puppies.

Now this is on the word of my five-year old but I’m pretty sure she knows the difference between real puppies and stuffed animals.  I asked John in text messages if it were true but he doesn’t respond.  That confirms in my opinion that he did buy his families love in the form of puppies.  By new family, I mean the one he has taken into our house… this brings the total living creatures at my house to two adults, five children, 3 dogs and a rabbit.  I find this just shocking because John doesn’t even want Vic, the dog we rescued shortly after we were married.  In fact, during our relationship, he gave away my Great Dane puppy to a friend of his while I wasn’t home.  Nothing like walking in the door and instead of being greeted by my puppy, I hear “I gave Boo away today.”  What husband gives away his wifes new puppy?  His reason for doing this….her shit was too big.  Now mind you, he didn’t poop scoop, I did.  What difference did it make to him how large her poop was?

While I was living in East York and we were “working things out” I came to find out John called the SPCA to pick up Tesla’s cat Sparky and my cat Emily.  I was heartbroken as Emily had been my cat for years before meeting the self-centered husband of mine.  I imagine he even said they were strays so he wouldn’t have to pay a donation fee.

Next disposable pet to go was Bella.  Bella was a yellow lab that John bought just days after my puppy Peanut was hit by  the neighbor’s truck because John was too cheap to call the electric dog fence company in to see what the connection problem was.  Amazingly, the DAY after Peanut was killed, the fence guy came and for $100 the broken connection was located and fixed.  The following day, I located Yinger online in Texas and told John I really want this puppy who was hairless and born on my birthday.  He gave me the ok (most likely out of guilt as everyone blamed him for Peanut’s death) to buy him and I had two weeks to wait until he could be shipped from Texas.  Shortly after I paid for Ying, John came home with Bella, a yellow lab,  who was more than a handful.

Her behavior never improved as John couldn’t be bothered to train her, brush her, or take her to the vet.  While I was living in the house and he was court ordered to stay out of the house, he and his girlfriend at the time, Kellie, booked a vacation to Florida using our timeshare.  I could have really thrown a wrench in their vacation plans by going online and canceling it on them, but I didn’t.  The day before they leave for vacation, John tells his brother Mike to take both Bella and Vic up to a kennel run by our neighbor.  Not to be cared for while he and his girlfriend were away, but to have them delivered to the SPCA.  (Mike didn’t have a car or I’m sure he would have just had Mike drop them off.)  I was in shock….once again, his desire for instant happiness outweighed the importance of the pets he bought!  A former employee took in Bella, who was in heat and had a severely infected tooth.  I knew about the tooth as Mike was trying his best to improve her inflamed mouth himself.  John had money for Florida, just not to pay for the care of HIS dog (or his child support.)  I insisted Vic remain at the house with me as Tesla would have been crushed if she came home and her dog was gone.  I even had to agree to pay for Vic’s dogfood in order to keep him for Tesla.  While they were off on vacation, I pooped scooped for DAYS filling a five gallon bucket at least ten times and had to listen to my ignorant brother-in-law yell rude comments at me.

The next pet on the chopping block was his girlfriend Kellie’s dog Clover.  A beautiful Golden retriever that apparently did not like John.  No surprise there!  When Clover bit John he insisted Clover had to go.  Had Clover bit anyone else I would have understood but with biting John she was just making her opinion clear.  Hell, if I were a dog, I’d bite John too!  After the abrupt break up between Kellie and John, she was very bitter to have lost her 4 pawed Clover.  Keeping the dog and getting rid of John would have been in her better interest.

So this boils down to the new puppies.  I was never allowed to have a dog in the living portion of the house.  I wonder if these two pups will be confined to outside and the workshop?  This is where Bella was kept and never learned the concept of being housebroken.  How long will these puppies make it in John’s world?  Does his newest girlfriend, Heather, realize how many pets this man has purchased then given away?

Gives a whole new meaning to an accidental spelling error I remember from years ago.

Maybe their names are Recycle and Donate.

~P.