Fed-up husband tells wife it’s him or her 30 dogs - and she chose the dogs
A fed-up husband has been forced to leave his wife after he told her to make a choice between him or her 30 dogs.
Liz Haslam, 49, told hubby Mike, 53, to pack his bags – ending their 25-year relationship – when he gave her the ultimatum ‘it’s me or the dogs’ as her love of the animals got out of hand.
The mum-of-one wasn’t willing to compromise and says she’s now happier than ever after her husband walked out.
Liz said: ‘My husband said it is me or the dogs. I haven’t seen or heard from him since.
‘I thought after 25 years, he should know giving up the dogs was not what my intentions were.
‘He just got to the point where he had enough and he wanted to slow down.
‘But I wasn’t prepared to give it all up. So he decided to go, and obviously that was his choice.’
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Liz met Mike when she was 16 and left home to move in with him when she finished school.
The couple got married in January 1991 and they share a 22-year-old son, Ollie.
Liz grew up with dogs for most of her life as her mother bred West Highland Terriers and her father owned an animal food business.
So when the couple moved into a two-bedroom farmhouse in Barnham, Suffolk, with half an acre of land seven years ago, she decided to start a boarding kennel business.
Liz then also founded BedforBullies – which rescues Bull Terrier dogs – which is when she began fostering dozens of pooches.
But the high demands animals pushed Mike down the pecking order and it wasn’t long before he’d ‘had enough’.
Liz added: ‘We just drifted more and more apart. He was heavily into his work and it left me with nothing to do. I didn’t want to be a work widow so I buried myself in my dogs.
‘He knew from the moment that we got together what I was all about. I don’t know what he expected.
‘He told me he was going and had sorted out some other accommodation so he packed his bags and went.
‘Before we split up he kept saying ‘I do not want to be doing this, I want to get a passport and go away’.
‘I said that isn’t going to happen so we might as well go our separate ways, which we did.’
Now, 18 months on from the split, Liz says she and Mike have had no further contact, despite still being married.
Liz said: ‘My passion for dogs was far too great for Mike. He decided that it would be nice to do more other things in life.
‘He felt as though he wanted his own life back but I said it is too much of a passion of mine to give up.
‘It just got to the point where he was fed up with the dogs and wanted to slow down but that wasn’t my intention.’
Liz, who also owns a parrot and macaw, has revealed since the split she continues to take in more dogs and and is even looking after a homeless man.
She has taken in around two hundred rescue dogs over the years, as well as keeping holiday dogs that pay her a wage to cover her rent and bills.
Her kennel business is successful but only has seven spaces to let out and it doesn’t cover all of her costs.
This has left her with a vets’ bill of more than £4,000 as well as rent arrears on her £800-a-month home.
But Liz is adamant she couldn’t be happier – despite her landlord now insisting she must move out of the property within a year.
Liz said: ‘I have re-homed so many dogs and now I am looking for a home.
‘I have chosen to do this. I love it.’
