Bringing pets into any family takes a lot of time and effort. Many young kids are always begging parents to get cats and dogs, but don’t understand the responsibility that comes along with them. Sometimes, parents wait until their kids are older to understand this fully, but other times, parents try to teach them about responsibility by getting family pets.
But, what happens when your family stops caring for the pets altogether?
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Recently, one dad wrote into Reddit asking for advice about his own issues with family pets.
The dad wrote into the subreddit “Am I the Asshole?” asking if he was in the wrong for planning to get rid of the cats that his wife and children bought.
The dad shared that their family has had a few pet hamsters in the past that passed away due to neglect.
So, when his wife asked if they can get a cat, he totally was not on board. However, he then laid some ground rules that his wife and kids would have to take full responsibility caring for the cat.
However, his wife and kids brought home two cats.
“They went out to a rescue without me, and brought home, not one, but two cats without having consulted me. My wife told me that the cats were brothers and that they couldn’t be separated and that the kids had fallen in love with them. Okay, whatever, I wouldn’t be taking care of them so it wasn’t my choice,” he wrote.
Things started to go downhill after a few weeks.
“For the first few weeks, the kids kept their promise, but my wife claimed that she was really busy with work. And then the kids stopped playing with them, cleaning the litter boxes, etc.
I repeatedly told them to do it, I told them that we weren’t keeping the cats if they weren’t being taken care of. They said okay but never did,” he added.
His wife said the kids were too busy with school to take care of the cats.
“I began to care for the cats and the kids began to ignore them. I have sat them all down and said that I wasn’t about to take care of the cats for the next several years and that, if they didn’t keep up their end of the promise, then I would get rid of the cats but the kids didn’t listen and my wife said I was being too harsh,” he wrote.
Instead of just giving them back to the shelter, though, the dad came up with an action plan.
“A few days ago, my sister and I were on the phone together and she was talking about how she was thinking of getting another cat since her last one had passed away a few months ago. I told her about the cat situation and offered to let her do a ‘trail run’ with the cats and she agreed.
My sister loves animals and is great with them, so I knew that the cats would be loved and well cared for. I didn’t tell my wife or the kids because I knew they’d make empty promises to care for the cats,” he added.
The dad ended up packing up the cats and giving them to his sister — and his wife was pissed.
His wife said he was an asshole and was extremely angry at him. He asked Reddit users if he’s in the wrong for his actions. Many Reddit users said he’s not.
One person said the dad was not wrong because he gave them “fair warning.”
“You literally sat them down and told them the cats were going if they didn’t take care of them. Sounds like your wife and kids don’t actually want a pet, they want a toy to play with until they get bored of it,” one person said.
Others said the dad did the best thing possible, as the cats were being neglected.
“The best thing he can do for the cats it seems is to rehome them with his sister. They’re being neglected where they are now, except what he can do for them unwillingly. I don’t care how pissed off the wife and kids are, I care about the quality of life for those cats and OP definitely did the right thing,” someone said.
What do you think? Was this dad too harsh?
