Man's daughter loses his girlfriend's dog; he says, 'I was too mad to even hug her.'
'AITA for scolding my daughter for letting the dog run away?'
My girlfriend Sarah and I had been discussing taking a road trip for a while. We've both been under a lot of stress and wanted to get away. It was my 9-year-old daughter Emily's weekend with me, so we'd be taking her with us.
Sarah's yorkie puppy Daisy had to come along as well. I told Emily that she'd have to stay in the car and watch Daisy while Sarah and I made stops. Emily was fine with that. She was on her iPad and eating snacks anyway.
After a few stops Emily said she was getting bored. I told her we could all do something together later, but she had agreed to this and needed to follow through.
At one point I stopped at a gas station to buy a drink and Sarah went to use the restroom. When I returned, not even 15 minutes later, the back door was wide open and Emily was crying next to the car. Daisy was gone.
Emily said she had gotten bored and left the car, and daisy jumped out, and there was too much traffic to go after her. We drove around looking for Daisy with no luck. Sarah was inconsolable. I was so angry and disappointed with Emily that I couldn't even look at her. I tried to explain to her why what she had done was wrong, but she just kept crying.
The road trip was cut short, and I dropped Emily back at her mom's house. Emily was really upset, but I was still mad and couldn't speak to her. I was too mad to even hug her or say good bye.
Her mom called me 'cruel and conniving,' but I told her it was awful what Emily had done to Sarah's dog. I felt so helpless. I wanted this weekend to be good for all of us. AITA?
Info from OP:
We looked for the dog for long time. She was gone. Sarah thinks she might've been stolen. We posted ads on FB with no luck too.
We'd been driving for about 5 hours.
I didn't want her to run after him. I was mad she opened the door in the first place.
Emily had Daisy on her lap. She barks whenever she's in a crate and it's exhausting.
There were some stops both me and my girlfriend had to go to together.
Here's what people had to say:
Wow YTA. She’s nine. There a few things:
Why the actual hell would it be a good idea to leave a nine year old alone in the car? Why would you give her sole responsibility of the dog, she’s nine? Nine year olds get bored, don’t just leave her alone and expect her to be occupied, maybe she got scared and wanted to find you.
She didn’t do this with any malicious intent, this is all negligence on your part. YTA to the max. Apologize and hope she forgives you.
I have a 9 year old and they are never left in the car alone. They should never be in charge of the puppy. And imma add that the make harnesses and seatbelts to strap a dog into the seat. Double irresponsible of him.
tatasz writes:
Harnesses, crates and other stuff. Also, adults can supervise their own damn pets. They don't need to go to the toilet together, leaving a dog and a child unsupervised.
Lilian_Rose writes:
OMG YTA. Your daughter is 9 years old. What did you expect. That she would stay in the car while you all got out. Why was the dog not in a crate ? Driving with a not secured dog is not safe. What if the dog jumps on the drivers seat? And why does he just jump outside? That's also unsafe. Train your dog!
mission-sleep99 writes:
Unpopular opinion 9 is more than old enough to stay put in a f**king car and not let an animal out NTA you're allowed to be upset.