'AITA for stealing my friend's pet bird because she was neglecting it?' UPDATED

"AITA for stealing my friend's pet bird because she neglected it?"

I love birds, and I'm the proud owner of 2 budgies. I've had them for about a year and a half. When I first got them, my friend fell in love decided she wanted one of her own. She then proceeded to spend the least amount of money she could on a cage and decorated it with minimal accessories. She got the bird, and while she seemed to like it at first, she basically ignored it after a month.

Every time I went over to her house, I told her that it needed more attention. It just sat in the corner all day, silent, occasionally gnawing at the only toy in the cage, which was shredded and worn within the first couple of months. Its food and water were probably only changed once a week. It was living above a mountain of poop because she never changed the tray.

I told her repeatedly that she was neglecting her bird. And despite promising to do better, she never did. I asked her if I could have it. She got really upset with me, saying that she had paid for it so she had the right to do what she wanted with it.

I felt really horrible every time I went over there. I decided I wanted to steal it. I felt like I could give it a better life. It could even make friends with my 2 birds. I just couldn't let it live the rest of its life unhappy in the corner of a cage, doing nothing.

So I did it. She was in the bathroom, and I took a shoe box I had hidden in my backpack and got the bird in. It was scared at first, but it calmed down in the box. I left without even saying goodbye.

Soon after I got a phone call which basically consisted of her yelling at me for a long while. I said that I'd give back her bird if she bought it a bigger cage, more toys, and promised to take better care of it. She once again used the argument of, "Its my bird, I can do what I want with it."

I took it home, where it livened up in the presence of my 2 other birds. It began chirping for the first time I had ever heard. It seemed very happy. This was all 3 days ago. My friend is still extremely pissed at me for not giving her bird back and is saying I'm being an asshole. So, AITA?

What do you think? AITA? This is what top commenters had to say:

WillSuckYourToes said:

ESH while i do believe that your friend wasnt treating the bird properly that doesnt give you the right to steal the bird from its home. Sure the bird might have had a better life with you, but it is still legally (and probably morally wrong for some people) to steal.

MeowtainBabe said:

NTA- I mean, stealing it isn’t great, but I have the worst time watching animals suffer. I bet she doesn’t care in a few days, but she probably won’t be your friend again.

Skull_B said:

NTA, you've burned that friendship but who wants to be friends with animal abusers? Keep your feather buddy,

GoodQueenFluffenChop said:

NTA But you should've left a decoy so it would have bought you a few days of peace.

beccah93 said:

You handled it wrong for sure. You should probably offer her money for the bird too to try and appease her anger. It would suck if she called the cops ya know. I am glad the bird is safe now though! I think you are NTA even if you took the wrong route of saving the bird. Keep us updated on the birdie.

girls_own_the_void said:

NTA. "I paid for it so I can do what I want" IS INFURIATING, she's basically saying she could torture the bird and it'd be fine because she bought it's life. honestly why would anyone want to be friends with someone like that?

GoingOverTheStars said:

ESH That being said, I’ve wanted to do the same thing with my friend’s cat. I went over to her house and noticed that she hadn’t changed her cats litter box since the last time I went over there a month ago. Her cat acts basically feral because of how she treats her. She said it was because she was depressed.

Your animals should not suffer because of your issues. If you can’t offer the best care you can provide then you need to do the right thing and pass over the care of the animal to someone else. That being said, stealing the bird was silly. There are so many better ways you could have handled that. Hahaha

She later shared this update:

I honestly went into this thinking I was going to keep the bird for probably 1 day or something before she profusely apologized and vowed to change her ways. She didn't. Like I said, I would have given it back if she had.

I guess I just figured that she needed something drastic to snap her into the reality that she was neglecting her bird. Which now, after reading the comments, I understand was a pretty immature way of handling things.

Today I offered her $50 as reimbursement, which was double what she bought the bird for. She took it and is letting me keep the bird. But she still hates me. Honestly, at this point, I couldn't care less. The bird is safe. That's all that matters. I think I could've handled it better, but I don't regret my choices. Thanks for the advice, support, and reality checks, everyone.