If you had a family member who was struggling to afford a place to stay, it sounds nice to offer to let them stay with you until they find a job, but what if they had a pet who was not only annoying but also destructive?

Would that be a deal breaker?

In today’s story, a man is facing this exact situation, and he’s wondering if he overreacted.

Let’s see how the story plays out.

AITA for telling my cousin that his emotional needs aren’t my problem and to get a job?

My (23M) cousin (30M) and his GF (32F) recently had to move out of their place after his girlfriend lost her job.

My cousin has been unemployed for quite some time due to his mental health, which is a sore subject for him (this will be relevant later).

His GF has been job searching, but it’s a long process and they need somewhere to stay in the meantime, so they’ve been staying with me and my roommate (22M).

It’s not the best arrangement.

I didn’t love this arrangement in the first place since we have a two-bedroom apartment and I’ve needed to move into my roommate’s room to make space, but it’s family.

My roommate says he doesn’t mind having me in his room for now (plus my aunt is paying us) so whatever.

The problem is that my cousin and his GF have insisted on bringing their emotional support dog with them (not a service dog).

It’s technically fine in terms of our lease and I don’t mind dogs in general so at first I said OK, but this thing has been a nightmare.

The dog is a big problem.

It’s loud, pees on our floors, and it chewed up one of our couch pillows.

My cousin and his GF think this behavior is hysterical and endearing, but every time my roommate and I tried to bring up that we’d rather they find somewhere else for their dog.

They go on and on about how they can’t possibly part with their “fur baby” and just will not hear it.

This all kind of culminated last night because my roommate had an important presentation this morning so he tried to go to bed early last night, but the dog would not stop barking.

My cousin and his GF were all like “awww she wants to play” but my roommate and I were pretty annoyed.

The cousins don’t think the dog is a problem.

I told my cousin that this arrangement was not working and that he needed to find somewhere else to put the dog.

He told me again that it’s their “fur baby” and his GF started getting really upset and telling me we were making the dog feel unwelcome and it was like asking them to part with their child.

I told them that the dog is not a baby and that they need to take responsibility for it or find somewhere else for the three of them to stay.

He reminded me that he needs the dog for emotional support and that his GF is trying to find a job and they have nowhere to go until then.

He finally couldn’t take it anymore!

Partially out of anger, I told him that his emotional support needs weren’t my problem and that maybe he should try getting a job too.

I know he’s had a rough time with his mental health and how that impacts employment so I think those two statements put together cut a little deeper than I intended.

He hasn’t been talking to me today and his girlfriend called me an ableist for what I said.

My aunt texted me this morning that my cousin and his GF plan on moving out this weekend with their dog and that I was way too harsh with him.

I do understand why the comment had that effect on them and I feel bad for that/

But it finally got the dog out of our place after we’ve been trying the gentler approach so I don’t really know what else I could’ve done.

AITA?

Sounds like a win win situation.

No more dog in the apartment, and the cousins can go where the dog won’t be an issue.

Let’s see how Reddit reacted to this story.

An untrained dog is not “cute.”

They’re not very good dog owners.

This reader proclaims, “Kick them out!!!”

I can see why a lot of landlords don’t allow dogs.

A mental health issue is no excuse for not working.

He better make sure the cousin and his girlfriend really do leave!

They have officially worn out their welcome.

And so has the dog.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check out what happened when a family gave their in-laws a free place to stay in exchange for babysitting, but things changed when they don’t hold up their end of the bargain.