'AITA for being 'rude' by telling a family that they neglected their pet lizard?'
"AITA for telling someone that they neglected their lizard?"
OneYoshoBoi writes:
I (23M) work at an exotic pet shop. As part of our services, we offer boarding for people who go on vacation, since it can be hard to find someone to watch your pet lizard. Recently, we had a customer drop off their bearded dragon for boarding.
They purchased her about a year and a half ago. When she first left our care, she was a healthy sub-adult. The family had done a lot of research, so we felt comfortable sending her home with them.
A few months ago, they dropped her off to be boarded again. When she came in, she was severely underweight. I brought it up to them, but they said she looked the same, was eating normally, and that everything was fine. Fast forward to a few days ago, and they dropped her off again.
I wasn’t working at the time, but when my boss saw her condition, he spoke to them about how poorly she was being cared for. He gave her some medicine, placed her in a hospital enclosure, and asked me to check on her when I came into work.
When I arrived, the entire place reeked of death. She had passed away overnight. She looked incredibly skinny, practically just skin and bones. Her eyes were crusted over with what looked like dried skin, and when you flipped her onto her back, you could clearly see the outlines of her organs. She was stiff and unresponsive.
I called the number they had left in our boarding log. I tried several times, but each call went straight to voicemail. Frustrated, I called one last time and left a message. I said their lizard had passed away and that I wanted to talk with them about their husbandry. I explained that she looked extremely emaciated and appeared not to have received proper care in months. I asked them to call me back as soon as possible.
About an hour later, my boss called me. He said the owners had contacted him about the voicemail I left. They told him I was rude and disrespectful, and that the message was completely uncalled for. He asked what I had said, and I repeated my exact words. He just said, “Ok.”
This morning, the mother and son came in to retrieve the dragon. When they arrived, the mother told me I had no right to speak to her that way. She said I didn’t know the circumstances and that accusing them of neglect was wrong.
I responded by saying that when you choose to get a pet and say it’s "part of the family" and that you "care so much about it," the animal should not end up in that condition. I told the son (19M) that I understand life gets busy, but if you can’t take care of an animal, you either need to figure out a better routine or put it up for adoption.
He swore he had been caring for her and that she was fine a week ago. I told them this doesn’t happen in a week. I said, “You should have taken her to a vet or put her up for adoption. Her condition was completely unacceptable.” They left, clearly upset, and took the dragon with them. So, am I the a&#*ole?
Here are some of the responses to OP's post.
DoubleSenior9843 says:
You weren’t rude; you were advocating for the animal. They needed to hear it.
H345Y says:
NTA, I'd also put them on a blacklist.
KuZagan says:
NTA That level of neglect is literally sickening. Poor little dragon.
MadameTomate says:
A number of years ago, a good friend of mine adopted a turtle. When I went to visit her, the water in the tank was black. I couldn’t even see the turtle. I was scared the poor thing was going to drown in its own excrement, so I cleaned that disgusting tank myself. NTA, some people shouldn’t have pets.
What do you think?