You’re partially right. You are absolutely right that the big issue is not the number of animals. Actually, the number of animals comes in third on the list. The list of animal related problems anyway.
The number one issue is that I have always felt that I was below the animals on her priority list. This is the big one and the one that fuels the majority of my resentment. It’s also the one that causes me the most pain. It’s very difficult to accept that my W places more value on her pets than she does on her H. It’s much like living with an unrepentant alcoholic: given the choice between their S and the booze, they choose the booze. That just hurts.
Number two is what I perceive as a lack of respect. More than once I have specifically told W, “No more dogs!!!” I’ve even couched it in dog-welfare terms in the hopes that she might see the light. I’ve tried to tell her that it’s for the dogs’ own benefit since the sheer number of them prevents any of them from getting much of her attention. But even when she agrees with me, or pretends to anyway, she keeps bringing in more of them. We’ve even had discussions about specific dogs where she’s gone directly against what I said. She was looking at a litter of Dalmatian puppies and asking me about which one to get. I said, “NONE” and made it very clear that I did not want to get any more dogs. So she went back that afternoon and bought one. A total lack of respect or concern for my opinion.
The third issue is the number of animals. In truth, it’s only an issue inasmuch as the increasing numbers take up increasing amounts of time and resources. I’m probably just fooling myself, but I have this idea that if there were less animals, W would spend less time with them and more with me. I have this idea that it would make things better. In the cold, hard light of day, when I put that down in black and white, I know it’s just a fantasy. She may have more time for me, but I would still be below the animals in her list of priorities. It would still suck to be in second place – at best.
