Teen Steals Her Uncle’s Dog After Finding Out It Eats Vegan Food So He Revokes Her College Fund

"I do in fact feed him vegan dog food with the full blessing of the veterinarian, and under the supervision of a veterinary nutritionist," the Redditor clarified. "My sister then joined in on this interrogation, so I just asked them both to leave." From the looks of it, neither the sister nor niece seem to be dog experts.

But they were dognappers. "I went upstairs while they were gathering their things," the original poster (OP) wrote. "When I looked out the window, I noticed that they grabbed Jupiter and were about to drive off with him! I immediately dashed downstairs and out the door, stopping them in time before they went off."

"I managed to get Jupiter back, and they were both screaming at me about how I don't 'deserve' him," OP said. "As a result of this incident, I have decided to revoke my niece's college fund, informing them of this fact this morning. I then received a very long and unhinged barrage of texts from my sister, telling me that she is going to sue me for all of the money in the college fund despite the fact that there was never any contract."

This is an interesting problem to try to solve, since it comes with so many questions. For one, what did OP's sister plan on doing with the dog after taking him? Did she expect to hold onto Jupiter forever? Obviously, there would have been some retaliation. It was just a thoughtless act.

Secondly, while the idea of a dog eating a vegan diet might hurt your soul, it's still an option. OP had made sure to run Jupiter's diet by the dog's vet before starting. It's fairly obvious that the dog's diet structure is unusual but not cruel. OP did the appropriate research.

"Vets will often recommend meat-free diets for dogs and cats with digestive issues, but beyond that, it's unclear how healthy — or unhealthy — veganism is for animals," writes Wired. "Vegan-pet parents aren't simply concerned about feeding their animals gluten-free organic. They're often environmentalists, and producing food for meat-eating pets accounts for between 25 and 30 percent of the environmental impacts associated with meat production."

Wired also points out that many vegan pet owners who fed their pets a vegan diet didn't want to be interviewed about it, since they knew their viewpoints weren't common. "They didn't want to be trolled by outraged meat eaters or incensed fellow vegans, some of whom think it's unethical to own pets in the first place," Wired says.

That said, as long as Jupiter's owner ran everything by a vet, it should have been fine. Even if it wasn't fine, you'd assume the sister and niece would have calmed down and tried to converse in a nonjudgmental way. And obviously, stealing the dog should have been out of the question.

The Reddit community mostly agreed, and also said that OP's sister would have no case whatsoever if she tried suing for the money. "It's your money," wrote Mrs_Hannah. "Unless you had it in her name, then that's different. But otherwise, it's your money and you can do with it what you want. Someone tried to steal your pet! Family or not, that's unacceptable."

Uglykitten2020 mentioned that dogs can be very healthy on this diet, but it's cats who are more of a concern. "There were vegan dogs who lived ridiculously long lives – 25-27 years," they wrote. "I'm not sure if vegan diet helped achieve that – but certainly doesn't seem to have done any harm. Cats are a different story, of course."

Bekib00 felt the same way that OP's sister and niece did, but their own situation had them change their mind. "I always had the same concern about people who feed their dogs vegetarian diets," they said. "I always thought it was cruel if it was seriously nothing but vegetables and dairy. But when my 14-year-old chi needed emergency surgery earlier this year, they happened to take a peek at her kidneys and told me to have my main vet run some tests on them. It turns out in her older age, they're thinking she has kidney disease and recommended a vegetarian dog food as one of the main changes to make for her."

But what about the lawsuit? Many thought it was ridiculous that the sister was making these expensive threats when she doesn't seem to have the money for college. Lawsuits cost quite a bit. It's a scenario many Redditors had similar stories about, like TealHousewife. "My mom threatened to sue me when I was in my thirties because she wanted me to pay her $200/month basically forever to pay her back for raising me," they wrote. "She actually did have money for lawyers, but since I never heard anything I presume no one would take her case."

The best advice came from Browneye422, who wanted to remind OP that there's a lot at stake with a decision like this. "It would have been far healthier for you to have told them how hurt and upset you were about their behaviour and explain to them why they are incorrect about the diet," they wrote. "But you just pressed the nuclear button. Are you entitled to? Sure, maybe. And maybe you are better off without them in your life — but you have clearly invested in the relationship enough to save up 60k. Do you want to throw it away because of this?"

Was it a silly incident? Of course. Should it have happened? Of course not. But if the niece hasn't been saving at all due to this promised money, it really could have a lasting outcome on her life. While OP has the right to do anything they want, it'll sever the relationship for good. Maybe if some well-thought-out apologies are issued, OP will reconsider.