Losing a pet is one of the worst feelings. Some animals stray because they've been spooked, or perhaps their curiosity got the best of them, leaving their owners heartbroken. While fliers and social media posts often work, it's not a guarantee.
A woman on Reddit, who posts under the username of mychickenmyrules543, shared a predicament she's currently in. It all started when her beloved cat ran away. "I was heartbroken; I put his litter box outside, hung flyers everywhere, and literally cried non-stop," she wrote. "It was bad."
Unfortunately, someone in the neighborhood started taking the flyers down. "This made me really upset, so I started knocking on people's doors," she wrote. "One neighbor told me that she overheard her neighbor's kid excitedly thanking his mom for a new cat, and when I walked up their driveway, what do you know MY cat was sitting in their windowsill."
While it must have been nice to see the cat, there was more to the battle left. And that is, the awkward conversation with the neighbor who managed to take him.
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"I knocked on the front door and explained to the lady that answered that this was MY cat, he's chipped and everything, so I have proof he's mine," she said. "She literally laughed in my face and slammed the door." So, she took matters into her own hands.
But not before trying one more time to reason with the neighbors. She knocked once more after getting the door slammed in her face. "I knocked again, and this time a huge dude answered and told me 'this is my son's cat, now go away' and slammed the door in my face," she said. Feeling powerless, she went to her main connection — her dad.
But the OP's dad is in a situation a bit more powerful than most fathers. Her dad is a sheriff. At first, she just called him to vent about what happened. "He told me to stay home, and that he would send over a deputy to take care of it," she said. But, she didn't know what'd happen next.
"Apparently the deputy let it slip that I was the county sheriff's daughter, and now the catnapper lady is telling everyone in the neighborhood I'm a spoiled brat who went crying to her daddy," she said. "But the thing is, I would have called the cops regardless. The only reason I called my dad first is because I was bawling and didn't want to sob on the phone to a stranger if I could avoid it, plus I wanted his advice on how to get my cat back."
As you may have expected, this wasn't the first crime that the neighbors had committed. "Apparently the kid's dad also went to jail because the deputy ran his plates and saw he had a warrant, so this woman is also telling everyone I got her partner arrested, too," she said. "But how was I supposed to know the guy had a freaking warrant? I just wanted my cat back."
For the record, yes — the deputy was able to reunite the OP with her cat. As she told Reddit, "He's curled up next to me right now." So, that's the good news. Also, most of Reddit felt as if there was no way she was in the wrong here. After all, the neighbors seemed well aware that the cat was reported missing. Otherwise, they wouldn't have taken down the flyers.
One Redditor's comments to her were so on the mark that others gave the post multiple awards — which is a function the site has. A user by the name of Sparklingemeralds reminded her that she shouldn't hold any guilt whatsoever. "Don't feel guilty, not even for a second," the Redditor wrote. "It's not your fault he got arrested, the catnapper is spewing some huge cow manure. Her partner got himself arrested. He was going to jail either way, even if he hadn't stolen the cat."
"She laughed in your face when you explained the situation and wanted your cat back," the commenter continued. "Then she sent out her man to intimidate you into going away. He already has a warrant and you actually did the community a favor by getting him locked up through your catnapping complaint."
"You are not a brat and the catnapper is a cheap-[expletive] who stole someone's cat to get a free pet and even took down the flyers so that the missing cat would go unnoticed," the person wrote. "You rightfully cried to your dad, and he just happens to be the sheriff. Of course he's going to A) look out for his little girl and B) do his job because this is stolen property that the thief refuses to give back. She's just pissed that her stolen cat got taken away and that her partner got caught."
The commenter also had some solid words of advice about the cat. "Give your cat some pets, a treat or two, and a little kiss on the head," the person concluded. "Poor baby. You could tell he missed you because he pawed at the door when he saw you." All in all, they summed it up: The OP didn't commit any type of crime here.
Even without the connection to the sheriff, it's possible the neighbors had no idea that the OP would go so far as to call the police. When people try to intimidate others, it's a way to scare them out of making big decisions. These neighbors were bullies as well as thieves.
Redditor YuppieKiYay also made sure the OP knew she wasn't in the wrong. "They stole from you. They knew he had a warrant, and they stole from you, they doubled down once you'd already told them that it could be trivially proven they'd stolen from you, and then they tried to threaten and intimidate you into accepting the theft. They did this to themselves to the last possible turn of the screw," the commenter wrote.
"Fundamentally, if even having legal consequences that severe hanging over him wasn't enough to stop them robbing and threatening neighbors, everyone in the area should be thanking their lucky stars that what he went down for happened quickly, was resolved peacefully, and everyone ended up home safe in the end," the Redditor continued. "Those are people who will keep doing awful things until they are prevented."
Everything the neighbor did was on the neighbor. The OP tried to calmly settle the issue but instead was bullied. She had to see her poor cat, scared, in someone else's home. If anything, this story is a beautiful case of karma coming back to the offender. But still, it's scary when there's a child involved.
Hopefully, these neighbors will straighten out and realize that animals they find outside aren't theirs to keep. This is why identification tags and chips are so important — aside from helping lost cats and dogs find their way home, they can also serve as proof of ownership. If your own pets are lacking this vital form of ID, you might want to get to a veterinarian soon.
These stories are based on posts found on Reddit. Reddit is a user-generated social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website where registered members submit content to the site and can up- or down-vote the content. The accuracy and authenticity of each story cannot be confirmed by our staff.
