I would advise you to stop reading now if you don’t want to start crying uncontrollably.

Animal enthusiast and Twitter user @jessi dietrich recently wrote about a question she asked her veterinarian and the heartbreaking response she received.

“Asked my vet what the hardest part of his job was &he said when he has to put an animal down 90% of owners don’t actually want to be in the room when he injects them thus the animal’s dying minutes are usually them desperately looking around for their owners & honestly it crushed me,” she posted on July 26.

The veterinarian described it to when your closest friend is needed most but isn’t present. It’s difficult not to relate to the frantic feeling, which I’m sure we’ve all experienced at least once in our lives. While writing this, my eyes are literally watering.

Since she tweeted this extremely upsetting truth, her message has received hundreds of comments, more than 140,000 likes, and 41,000 retweets. 

The majority of the comments came from other pet owners who had endured staying with their dying animals through euthanasia. Many people commented on how difficult their decisions were. But nearly all of the animal lovers concurred that they merely wished to provide their dogs with love and calm in their final moments.

Unsurprisingly, many more people expressed contempt at pet parents for truly leaving their furry pals alone in their time of greatest need.

The OP replied to her many commenters who had expressed how sad they felt after seeing her tweet once it started to gain traction.

“I just wanted to raise awareness; I didn’t mean to break anyone’s heart!” She said, “I’m very sorry:).

It appears that she was successful in raising awareness. Shortly after her tweet went viral, an animal hospital in New Zealand published a message on its Facebook page with the similar title, “from a tired, broken-hearted vet.”

They look for their loved one in every face in the room, according to the Hillcrest Veterinary Hospital post. They’re sick, afraid, old, or dying of cancer, and they need your comfort. They don’t understand why you left them. The person goes on to label folks who don’t stay with their pets as cowards.

Although this article drew some criticism for its use of violent language, the majority of the other comments were supportive, and many pet owners felt that it’s crucial to stay by the side of a dying animal.

The Hillcrest Veterinary Hospital’s message received 128,000 shares and 24,000 likes, much like the previous tweet.

I, for one, firmly believe that family pets should remain with their owners until death. So whatever you stand on this issue, right about now you should go give your favorite furry child a big bear hug.