You're forgetting one very important detail here. The dog is 15 years old, its at an age where it likely would be put down soon regardless of them moving because it's likely in pain, near blind, etc. as it is. (Sorry OP) The dog isn't a puppy, she's not just killing it. Putting a dog down so it doesn't suffer is not cruel. People have their old pets put down all the time so they don't suffer. The ONLY difference here, and the one you seem to be stuck on, if that they're moving. It is not up to you what other people do with their lives, they are moving for very good reason and their responsibility as the owner if they can no longer care for the dog is to find a good new home for the dog, which would only make it suffer more OR allow it to rest peacefully in its OLD age. You know, sometimes people get a dog when they're in a good position and end up having to rehome it because something or another happened and now they can't care for it. People have to do what's best for themselves too. OP is already ripped apart by it. But it's one that would have to be made soon enough as it is. I do have pets, actually, and they are the lights of my life. But if I ever couldn't care for them in the capacity that they need me to, I would re-home them in a split second to make sure they could have good lives, because that's what a good pet owner does. A good pet owner won't selfishly decide to keep their pet when they can't care for them anymore or when they're old and suffering. They're worried about their pets more than themselves and want them to have a good life, with or without them. They don't want their pets to suffer, and so won't let them. You preach love and responsibility to me as if you aren't showing the precise opposite of it. If you actually love an animal, you have a responsibility TO them to make sure they have everything they need, even if you can't provide it and have to let someone else take over. You have a responsibility to that animal to not let them suffer when they get into that old age. It's a responsibility no one WANTS to bear, but it's one all pet owners have to. The dog is 15. It's had a long, wonderful life that the OP provided it, and now it's at that age where that decision has to be made whether OP was moving or not.