Dump the dud: red flag sign that you're going to get beat up
First I would like to make a disclaimer. I’m using the pronoun He, because I’m a mostly heterosexual lady and most of my romantic experience stems from my experiences with men so of course I can only speak from that. But these red flags can be from any person of any sex or even if they don’t identify as any sex or even if they don’t even have genitals. Same goes for sexual orientation. Any person in any kind of relationship can exhibit these behaviors it doesn’t even have to be a romantic relationship. It could be a friend or family member doing these things. The point is that you are able to identify the signs that you may be involved with a toxic person so that you are more empowered to avoid a potentially abusive relationship and at the least a little heart ache.
That being said, this next red flag is a 100% guarantee that this person is going to abuse you:
THEY ARE MEAN TO YOUR PETS
A person has the right to not like your pets. I know it sounds impossible and crazy but some people just aren’t into animals. I don’t understand it myself, but I tolerate them the same way they tolerate my pets, I suppose. But what crosses the line is when someone is mean to your pets. I’m not talking about, oh he won’t cuddle with Puddles the puppy so he’s a jerk. If your pet is being called ugly names, hit, kicked, thrown, spit on, jerked around, has food or water being withheld, or he otherwise just has a shitty attitude about your pet. This could include just threatening violence on the animal or trying to convince you the animal is bad or that you should get rid of it or uses the animal as a pawn to manipulate you in any way. This all applies to his own pets as well. Just because someone has a pet doesn’t mean that they are nice to it and it’s not any different than if it was your own pet. If a person that you are involved with does any of these things to their own pet, your pet or any other animal in existence dead or alive, I promise you that they are not only capable of doing these exact same things to you, but that they WILL do these exact same things to you. And your children as well, if you have them.
So that’s a big one there. If you see that you know for sure to keep your distance.
Fuckin’ A.
“Compassion for animals is intimately associated with goodness of character, and it may be confidently asserted that he who is cruel to animals cannot be a good man.”
― Arthur Schopenhauer, The Basis of Morality
