Teen Told His Older Brother He 'Deserved to Be Dumped' After the 20-Year-Old Made Fun of Him for Crying Over Dog's Death

Mar. 15, 2025

Two men arguing (stock image).Photo:Getty

Getty

A pair ofsiblingsare at odds following thedeath of their dog.

In aposton Reddit’s “Am I the A——?” forum, a teenager, 15, said that he told his older brother, 20, that he deserved to getdumpedbecause he made fun of the emotions he felt tied to the loss of their pet.

“This week has been one of the hardest of my life,” the Redditor began. “My dog, Romeo, passed away unexpectedly a few days ago.”

Detailing that the animal “wasn’t just a dog,” he continued, “A lot of people get what I mean. He was my best friend, and the closest thing to me since I was 3.”

The teenager added: “[It] got me. I didn’t think it would hit me this hard, but it did.”

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

A memorial set up for a dog (stock image).Getty

According to the teen, his brother — who he described as a “stereotypical tough guy” — “also has a bad habit of dismissing anything that doesn’t fit into his worldview.”

Because of this, the Redditor said his older sibling was not sympathetic about the dog’s death. “I genuinely thought he’d understand how much Romeo meant to me,” he wrote.

Recalling a recent instance when he was looking throughold photos of the canine on his phonein their home, the teen wrote, “I was crying.”

“I thought I was alone,” he continued. “Then my brother walked in, took one look at me, and started laughing menacingly. … He said things like: ‘You really cryin’ over a dog?' and ‘Man up, it’s just an animal.’ "

The teen said despite his attempts to ignore his older brother, he “kept going, saying things like, ‘What’s next? You gonna hold a funeral for him?’ and even pretended to cry in a mocking way.”

The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!

Two men in an argument (stock image).Getty

The taunts from his sibling, the Redditor wrote, eventually caused him to lash out. “I don’t know what changed in me, but I snapped. I was hurt, angry and just so fed up with how s—– he was being,” he explained.

Thinking back to his brother’s recent breakup with his “girlfriend of two years,” and how he had “been moping around the house, blastingsad breakup songsand talking to anyone who’ll listen about how ‘heartbroken’ he is,” the teen said he looked his sibling “dead in the eye” and said, “At least my ‘just an animal’ loved me. Your girl clearly didn’t love you the way she cheated on you. At least my dog died loving me. Your girl is still alive and didn’t love you.”

The response, the teen said, caused his brother to go “completely silent.” He added, “Then his face went red, and he stormed out of the room without saying a word.”

Later in the day, the older brother told the siblings' parents about what went down, causing them to tell the teenager that he was “out of line,” “went too far and “should apologize because what I said was cruel.”

“But here’s the thing, I don’t feel like I owe him an apology. He mocked me while I was grieving, dismissed my feelings, and only stopped when I hit him where it hurt,” the teen argued, however. “I know what I said was harsh. I know it wasn’t the nicest thing I could’ve said. But honestly? He started it. If he’d just shown me a shred of emotion, or even left me alone, I wouldn’t have gone there.”

Paw prints in the dirt (stock image).Getty

After asking other Redditors what they thought of the situation — and if he should “make things right” with his older brother, as their parents suggested — the teen was met with support.

“Grown men cry. Grown men especially cry over dogs,” one other user added to the teenager.

Others, meanwhile, shared their own experiences with heartbreak over losing a beloved pet, and how the pain hurts just the same, no matter the age.

“My English Mastiff died when I was 45 and I cried for weeks. There’s nothing to be ashamed of,” said one Redditor, while another wrote, “I lost my favorite cat a few years ago. I’m a 64-year-old lady. I still cry over the loss of Shadow.”

source: people.com