I don't know what to do

My boyfriend of almost 6 years decided yesterday to let all his skeletons out of the closet.
I know he had a rough childhood, he lost his father at a young age, and he's repressed alot but
As glad as i am that he is being more open with me, i feel somethings, really just one skeleton, should have stayed in the closet.

He told me had oral sex with a dog about 15 times, and the last time he did it he was 17. (he's 23 now)
Now he said he isn't proud of what he did, he's ashamed, and feels disgusting for it.
But then why did he do it so many times? And why do it in the first place?
He says he doesn't know why, but that he just did it.
And he says he hasn't done it since, but then why feel the need to tell me?
I honestly would have rather never known about it at all.
I love animals, but i'm not like PETA about it, but what he did really disturbs me
I think people who mistreat animals are sick

At first i was really shocked, and then it started to set in, and i'm disgusted, and i think what he did is completely sick. It might be different if he was younger and wasn't really aware of what he was doing, but he knew, and did it several times.

Now i don't want him to touch me, i love him, but i don't know if i can put this behind me and still be with him. I just really want to pretend he never told me. I'm also upset with him that he told me, things were going fine between us, and i sort of feel like it was selfish of him to tell me.

I just really don't know how to handle this.

Hi, zombifan! You're right, what he did is really disturbing. Even if he has a paraphilia, it's his responsibility not to abuse. You should tell him that he needs to see a psych about this, he has to tell a doctor. Maybe he told you about it to ease his burden, even if he doesn't feel much guilt.
At least you know the truth about him now, it is better than living in a lie.

zombifan

I can absolutely appreciate your shock and horror, but I urge you to try and get beyond that, because I don't think this needs to mean anything negative to you or your relationship. What he did was wrong, but teenagers do incomprehensibly odd and sometimes awful things without necessarily being odd or awful people. Teens try drugs, try drinking, try shoplifting, try cheating, try... I urge you not to over think why he did this. He was curious, he was stupid, he was confused, he was lonely, he was depressed, who knows. The point is he realized it wasn't for him, that he didn't feel right about it, and he didn't do it any more. That was a long time ago now. Also, I certainly admire you for your love of animals and your concern for their welfare but please don't let that confuse this issue. I think it's safe to assume your boyfriend didn't physically force the animal to do anything, I doubt that would work. The animal likely had no concept of what it was doing, and was not harmed, he probably put food on himself or something. It's disgusting, sure, but there's no reason to believe based on what you say that he represents any sort of threat to animals.

As for him telling you, you can choose to look at it as a burden, as a selfish act on his part, or you could look at it as though he's finally found someone he trusts enough, loves enough, to share this deeply embarrassing secret that has been making him feel guilty and horrible for years. You can choose to react badly to it and reject him or you could see in this revelation his love for you, his closeness to you, and in the specific way he shared it with you (his words, emotions) that this is well and truly in the very distant past, and it would be extremely unfair to hold it against him or allow it to change how you see him.

J