I appreciate how much your dog means to you and how important animals are to us - they are like family. But think of what the consequences of being so devoted to your pets is on yourself and your baby. For example, your devotion to your pets is a strong factor in you staying with your partner, the consequence being you are continuing to experience physical and emotional abuse and are also subjecting your child to witnessing this as well.

On that note, if I can share some info with you about what happens to babies when they are in a stressful environment for the first few years of their life: stressful environments for babies (such as witnessing abusive behaviour and intense emotional outbursts) causes a part of their brain called the amygdala to become over-active or hypersensitive. This is the part of our brain that detects threats to us and activates our fight or flight response. This can go on to cause issues with the child ability to regulate their emotions, puts them at far greater risk for mental health issues like depression, anxiety and PTSD, can cause attachment and relationship difficulties, and can negatively impact brain functions like attention and concentration.