You may love your pets, but do you love them enough to choose them over your life partner? A 53-year-old British man named Mike Haslam recently gave his wife, Liz, that exact ultimatum after she began fostering 30 rescue pooches: "It's me or the dogs," he told her.
Mike was probably banking on Liz picking him, her dedicated husband of nearly three decades. They met when she was a teenager and he was 20, and they had been living together ever since tying the knot in 1991.
But instead, Mike found himself a divorcee.
"I thought after 25 years, he should know giving up the dogs was not what my intentions were," Liz, 49, told Bored Panda. "My husband said, ‘It is me or the dogs.’ I haven’t seen or heard from him since."
She added: "He told me he was going and had sorted out some other accommodation, so he packed his bags and went."
Well then!
Liz has always been obsessed with animals.
It's a passion that runs in Liz's family: Her mother bred West Highland terriers, and her father ran an animal food company.
Mike entered the picture when Liz was a teenager.
Liz met Mike when she was just 16 years old and married him in her early 20s.
Shortly after the duo exchanged vows, they moved into a two-bedroom farmhouse together. The house was located on a half-acre of land — not much space, but enough for Liz to start a boarding kennel.
Liz's passion quickly became her priority.
She later started fostering rescue dogs and eventually founded BedsForBullies, a bull terrier sanctuary that rehabilitates and rehomes bull breeds.
Liz's rescue dogs take up a lot of her time and energy. Several of the dogs have disabilities, and with nearly three dozen dogs total in her care at the moment, fostering them is a round-the-clock job.
Some of the bull terriers Liz fosters are former fighting dogs who require extra love and care. One also suffers from brain damage, and five are completely deaf.
Liz told Bored Panda that she spends around 18 hours a day caring for her dogs. It's a full-time job — and then some.
"It is [a] very deliberating job; you can't have a day off," she explained. "I don't sit down 'til 11:30 p.m. at night, so you can't just go on holiday."
"And I can't just say I am not going to do it anymore; it is my responsibility," she added. "I took the dogs in. I can't just stop."
In the wake of Mike's departure, Liz has found herself in a bit of a pickle.
Her rescue and boarding businesses are both successful, but they don't cover all the costs of fostering her beloved dogs.
Plus, Liz recently found out that her landlord wants to develop her property. He's forcing her and her dogs to move out within a year.
Liz is currently on the hunt for another property — either an acre of land that grants its renter permission to dwell or a house with a decent chunk of land.
Recent hurdles aside, Liz wouldn't have her life any other way.
"I have chosen to do this," she told Bored Panda. "I love it."
And as for Mike? It sounds like Liz is doing just fine on her own, thankyouverymuch.
Click here to learn more about Liz's hopes for her sanctuary's future!
