16 Y.O. Loses His Neighbor’s Cat That He Was Supposed To Pet Sit, His Mom Is Upset About The Neighbors Refusing To Pay For His Work
All work must be paid – this is one of the basic principles on which the world economy rests. A person invests strength, time, skills and energy in their work, and in return, they definitely must receive a predetermined amount of money, otherwise, in principle, the meaning of any work is lost.
On the other hand, the employer always has the right to count on a conscientious and qualified performance of this work – because otherwise the money will actually be thrown away. This is also a fundamental principle of economics, and it is not recommended to violate it. But many workers, hired and not only, unfortunately, ignore this particular principle…
Let’s say like one of the heroes of this story, recently told by the user ntMkeMeUseMyHRVoice in the AITA Reddit community. The original post got over 3.8K upvotes and nearly 500 different comments in less than two weeks, so it’s safe to say that people were interested in it. So, let’s figure out what’s what here…
More info: Reddit
The author of the post was leaving town for several days so they asked their neighbors’ 16-Y.O. son to petsit their cat and dog
Image credits: Nicki Dugan Pogue (not the actual image)
Image credits: u/DntMkeMeUseMyHRVoice
The authors of the post were away from home for some time, so they asked the 16-year-old son of their neighbors to look after their pets – a dog and a cat. The work, frankly, was not very difficult – it was only necessary to feed the animals daily, give them water, and also walk the dog. The cat, as the owners told the teenager, was an indoor cat, so the main task here was, on the contrary, not to let her out on the street.
Image credits: u/DntMkeMeUseMyHRVoice
The boy turned out to be unlucky as he lost the house key and then the cat ran away
The problems began as early as the second day, when the boy said that he had lost the key to the house, which had been left for him. They had to tell him the garage code so he could get into the house. However, now there was a new risk – as long as the garage was open, the cat could escape into the street. Which, in fact, appeared to have happened when the owners returned home two more days later.
Image credits: Iain Farrell (not the actual image)
The hapless petsitter said he last saw the cat in the morning of the same day, but the Original Poster checked the security cameras and saw the animal outside the house at about 5:30, before the garage doors were reported to open. Accordingly, the cat ran away at least a day before, and the boy lied. For the first time, that is.
Image credits: u/DntMkeMeUseMyHRVoice
The owners checked the security cameras and found out that the boy lied to them, and then discovered another lie when he told them he’d find the lost cat
The teenager promised to urgently find the lost cat and left. In fact, this turned out to be his second lie – after all, after some time, the author of the post just saw him with a grocery bag – so he, obviously, had not gone to look for anyone.
Image credits: u/DntMkeMeUseMyHRVoice
The owners began to get very worried – after all, not far from their house there was a place where coyotes gathered, and the cat was very small, so it could well have been attacked. However, very soon she came home herself, so the owners were incredibly happy.
Image credits: u/DntMkeMeUseMyHRVoice
Finally the cat came home herself, yet the owners decided to refuse to pay the boy
And then the question arose – is it worth paying the petsitter at all? Now not only will they have to change the locks in the whole house, but also, the employers had to endure many unpleasant hours in search of their pet. In the end, the owners decided not to pay the boy at all – after all, he actually did not do his job, and caused a lot of problems for his employers in addition.
By the way, in order to prevent such cases, pet-sitters are strongly recommended to insure their services. Yes, it costs money, but it guarantees protection in any unforeseen situation. “Not having insurance coverage if a situation did arise would likely result in legal action by your client and could lead to financial ruin from your company,” experts at petsit.com say.
Image credits: Jean-Francous Gornet (not the actual image)
Most people in the comments agreed with their decision and backed the pet owners
We must say that in general, people in the comments supported this decision, stating that it would probably be worth creating a special list of items that the guy was supposed to complete, and specifying the fee separately for each of them. Accordingly, after all, he should have received some kind of payment, because, at least, he fed and watered the dog.
Some other commenters noted that the author of the post should probably have honestly explained the situation to the teenager and said that he would not receive anything, and that this story should be a lesson for him anyway. If the guy started to get indignant, then they would have to tell them what they know about his two lies, and that it is better to agree after all. Be that as it may, it remains to be hoped that in the future, the teenager will be more responsible for his upcoming jobs.
As always, we look forward to your comments, and in addition, if you have experienced the same or a similar situation, then please tell us your story in the comments on this post.
NTA- THE PURPOSE OF A CAT SITTER IS TO MAKE SURE THE CAT IS OKAY. AN INDOOR CAT OUTSIDE FOR 2 DAYS IS NOT OKAY
If he lost my cat, I wouldn't even pay for his hospital bill...... Glad the cat came back, though...
"Hospital bill...". 😏 Glad you said what I was thinking, too. 👍🏻
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Considering the mother's response when she was told, I'm not surprised the kid has absolutely no working ethics. This is like blaming the teacher because "Perfect little Johnny" didn't do his homework. I did like the itemized bill suggestion. That way if anyone asks, you can show them how much the irresponsible kid cost you. From what it sounds like, these people where lucky the house didn't get robbed.
Losing the cat, and making her fend for herself outside for up to two days is bad enough—-he’s just lucky she survived and came back home—-but where TF did he lose the house keys? That opens the house up to all kinds of dangers. He could’ve had friends come over there—-potential damage and loss. It may have been stolen from him by someone who knew whose house it is—-also potential damage and loss. It could’ve been stolen from someone who has something against the family—-again, potential damage, loss, AND danger to the family when they got home. Hell, since his mother was pissed off at him not getting paid because he caused more expense than he was going to get paid, I wouldn’t be surprised if SHE took the key, so she could snoop around and possibly even take something the next time these folks are out of town. Finding out the stolen key now won’t work could’ve pissed her off even more. I would break all ties with this neighbor, and hire a professional or trusted friend next time.
None of what this young person was asked to do was rocket science. All the tasks were actually quite simple. He was unable to live up to his end of the bargain, and actually lost house keys and a freakin' CAT in the process! Of course you shouldn't pay him.
That poor kitty, living on the streets for two days must be a huge stress for an indoor cat. He doesn't deserve any money, he essentially failed the task he was hired for. I'd probably let the lost key slide(provided he pays for a new lock), but such negligence to an animal is unacceptable.
My friend's cousin was camper sitting and managed to lose my friend's elderly pug. As well, she didn't seem concerned about it at all and sat on the couch as my friend panicked and began searching. The cousin didn't even let my friend know about this until hours after the fact. The pug was never found, and we suspect was lost in the woods, had an asthma attack, and likely died.
The other week, we realized our cat had gotten out. Luckily, we realized this because she was sitting peacefully on the porch under a chair just chilling out but I nearly cried because she is strictly indoor and we have so many neighbors who walk right by with their dogs w/ very poor control. I can't imagine how upset I'd be knowing someone had this happen and then blatantly didn't care enough to look for the cat when they didn't see them (let's face it, he was purely negligent even when "helping" to look for it).
Hmm, complete failure to do job. Still expects to be paid for job. Guess in his Moms mind, that makes sense.
NTA and his parents are s**t, lazy parents who think their teen is entitled to be rewarded for shotty work. If it was a contractual job there's a good chance he would be fired with deducted pay. I hate it when parents get involved or try to dictate what their kid gets paid for casual jobs in the community. If he had just been forthcoming and tried to make an effort to remedy the situation, then maybe MAYBE he would deserve a little something for trying. I get he's just 16 and accidents happen. But his nonchalant attitude makes it seem like he was just negligible.
NTA. He should not be paid. This kid is not mature enough to be trusted. His job was simple. First he looses the house key. THE HOUSE KEY. Who knows where that went, and who has it now. And he was too stupid to close the garage door after he entered. Nope, I've seen 9 year olds more mature and reliable than him. He doesn't deserve to be paid and you shouldn't to ask him to do anything again. His parents must be jerks.
NTA.. He lost your cat. He lost your house key. He lied to you. I would have done the same thing. As someone said in their response, you should show them the receipts for rekeying the house and buying new keys and tell them that you're just going to charge him what you would have paid. I also hope you had the good sense to change your garage code.
I'm so glad your cat came back and was alright; hope your dog was too. Really it's the lying and that the kid lost the keys and lock has to be changed that's inexcusable. If I lost someone else's house key they'd intusted to me I'd feel compelled to pay to have the lock changed and if if was my child that did it I'd also feel responsible to do so; not demand payment!
I have a dog and an indoor cat. I have a key to my house. I'm 16. His age is not an excuse. Please don't try to make it one. I also dog sat for a day for these two in the village a few years ago (my brother had a commitment and couldn't watch them that day so I volunteered instead) with no issues. To be fair to him, though, I'd imagine he must've felt really ashamed and guilty, so confessing he'd lost their cat must've felt impossible (at least it would've been for me). Mother needs to back off (since it seems from this story that she's the one really badgering from no pay. And you can't really claim he was "whining" as it was possible his mother asked him about the pay and he responded honestly)
I would not pay to a person who disregards an animals welfare and doesn’t seem to be upset about the fact that he lost not just an INDOOR cat but also the keys. Keys can be replaced but the cat could have been run over, killed or otherwise lost forever in which case I would SUE.
I bet if the kid had shown one iota of remorse, they'd have responded differently to the problems.
I agree. He shouldn't have been paid. The problem with society is there are too many bleeding hearts and parents who give in to their kids instead of being parents and not friends. Everyone can say what they want, but as an adult if you don't do your job you get fired. Welcome to the real world kid
I would have called the cops and Animal Control to file a complaint against him for blatant neglect. Mommy and 'Baby' can find out FAST that many cops don't like animal abusers/neglecters. And no, I don't care that he's 16. What if he had been babysitting a toddler and decided to lie about how long it had been missing? If the kid had admitted to his mistake and immediately called animal control, then made a real effort to locate the cat, he would have gotten partially paid because mistakes happen. He never would have had access to my house or fids again, but there would have been *far fewer* bad feelings. This is the type of kid who will use the OP as a reference and then be shocked when a *bad* review of his capabilities was given.
NTA. As an In-home pet sitter myself, I've done some fk ups. Didn't lose an animal, but I did break a plate once by accident. I let them know and they said I could either buy a replacement or they'd take it out of the pay. I bought them a new plate. Sure it was only $2 but but at that time I was making $25 for a 24 hr period. NOT PER HOUR. It's a fair chunk. But I owned up to the fk up and paid up. This kid LOST YOUR CAT AND DIDNT TELL YOU!!!! I had a dog get lose once and immediately called the parent. They came home and we got her inside. I was uninformed that the collar had been uped in size (matingail collar/slip on collar for a greyhound). The result. She never asked me to come back. She just took her dog to work with her. In 7 yrs, that's the only thing that happens like that.
My worse fck ups as a pet sitter have been the key breaking in the lock, getting bit by a spider, and a dog breaking a fence board when he ran full sprint after a squirrel
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Make a itemized bill and send it to the mother of the boy demanding payment for damages (locksmith) and negligence (letting the cat escape). Take them to small claims court and sue the mother since she thinks he should be paid for stupidity. If the cat would have been killed there is no replacing a beloved family pet. This would be the best way to teach both the idiot mother and the negligent kid how the real world works. PS. I would have never gave them the lock code for the garage, I would have told him to have his mother call a locksmith at her expense.
NTA! NTA! NTA! As a human who has had to bury his pet cat that got out & was hit by a car 🚗 I'm very happy to read the cat returned safely. I have pet-sit for friends' cat(s), and caring for another person's PETS IS AN EXTREMELY IMPORTANT DUTY, and serious matter of TRUST. Plus, losing the housekey?! I'm not trying to advocate a Hatfields vs. McCoys escalation, but methinks [bleep] those neighbors. The young man completely blew it -- did he even truly APOLOGIZE? #petsarefamilytoo
The boy should pay the owner so they can use the money to find the cat since he doesn't want to look for the cat.
Happily, their cat was hanging around its home / yard.
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Never hire teenagers for tasks that are important to you. Teens are too immature to keep themselves. Every now and again you'll run into a mature teen but it is few and far between. And his mom is the reason he's so immature. She should really try to actually parent him sometime.
Because he is young and has no job experience previously, I would go over the rekeying cost and anxiety over your cat being lost for several days. While going over the particulars, I would include the amount you would have paid him minus the costs you incurred + place $ value for his dishonesty , but credit him something for taking care of the dog. I would have a breakdown on paper.
I would not pay someone who lost my cat. Job failed no money. The money is ridiculous and is enabling this useless teenager
I would tell him to please use them as a reference for future jobs and then be sure to reference the hell out of him. No jobs for you young man.
NTA. The boy had responsibility for the animal and failed in the task. IMHO both parties are wrong. The owners should have chipped the cat and or put a tracking device on the cat to aid in the animals recovery. I also recommend spaying or neutering the cat if it's a male. This tends to reduce the cat's natural instinct to roam and hunt. The city is a dangerous place for a feral animal and a little thoughtfulness on the part of the owner could save the animal's life.
Bored Panda actually paid someone to put together this convoluted, confusing rewrite of a Reddit post? This is garbage content.
A 9 year old lossing there house key is an accident. A 16 year old lossing a key they've been entrusted with to do paid work is negligence.
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NTA- THE PURPOSE OF A CAT SITTER IS TO MAKE SURE THE CAT IS OKAY. AN INDOOR CAT OUTSIDE FOR 2 DAYS IS NOT OKAY
If he lost my cat, I wouldn't even pay for his hospital bill...... Glad the cat came back, though...
"Hospital bill...". 😏 Glad you said what I was thinking, too. 👍🏻
Load More Replies... Considering the mother's response when she was told, I'm not surprised the kid has absolutely no working ethics. This is like blaming the teacher because "Perfect little Johnny" didn't do his homework. I did like the itemized bill suggestion. That way if anyone asks, you can show them how much the irresponsible kid cost you. From what it sounds like, these people where lucky the house didn't get robbed.
Losing the cat, and making her fend for herself outside for up to two days is bad enough—-he’s just lucky she survived and came back home—-but where TF did he lose the house keys? That opens the house up to all kinds of dangers. He could’ve had friends come over there—-potential damage and loss. It may have been stolen from him by someone who knew whose house it is—-also potential damage and loss. It could’ve been stolen from someone who has something against the family—-again, potential damage, loss, AND danger to the family when they got home. Hell, since his mother was pissed off at him not getting paid because he caused more expense than he was going to get paid, I wouldn’t be surprised if SHE took the key, so she could snoop around and possibly even take something the next time these folks are out of town. Finding out the stolen key now won’t work could’ve pissed her off even more. I would break all ties with this neighbor, and hire a professional or trusted friend next time.
None of what this young person was asked to do was rocket science. All the tasks were actually quite simple. He was unable to live up to his end of the bargain, and actually lost house keys and a freakin' CAT in the process! Of course you shouldn't pay him.
That poor kitty, living on the streets for two days must be a huge stress for an indoor cat. He doesn't deserve any money, he essentially failed the task he was hired for. I'd probably let the lost key slide(provided he pays for a new lock), but such negligence to an animal is unacceptable.
My friend's cousin was camper sitting and managed to lose my friend's elderly pug. As well, she didn't seem concerned about it at all and sat on the couch as my friend panicked and began searching. The cousin didn't even let my friend know about this until hours after the fact. The pug was never found, and we suspect was lost in the woods, had an asthma attack, and likely died.
The other week, we realized our cat had gotten out. Luckily, we realized this because she was sitting peacefully on the porch under a chair just chilling out but I nearly cried because she is strictly indoor and we have so many neighbors who walk right by with their dogs w/ very poor control. I can't imagine how upset I'd be knowing someone had this happen and then blatantly didn't care enough to look for the cat when they didn't see them (let's face it, he was purely negligent even when "helping" to look for it).
Hmm, complete failure to do job. Still expects to be paid for job. Guess in his Moms mind, that makes sense.
NTA and his parents are s**t, lazy parents who think their teen is entitled to be rewarded for shotty work. If it was a contractual job there's a good chance he would be fired with deducted pay. I hate it when parents get involved or try to dictate what their kid gets paid for casual jobs in the community. If he had just been forthcoming and tried to make an effort to remedy the situation, then maybe MAYBE he would deserve a little something for trying. I get he's just 16 and accidents happen. But his nonchalant attitude makes it seem like he was just negligible.
NTA. He should not be paid. This kid is not mature enough to be trusted. His job was simple. First he looses the house key. THE HOUSE KEY. Who knows where that went, and who has it now. And he was too stupid to close the garage door after he entered. Nope, I've seen 9 year olds more mature and reliable than him. He doesn't deserve to be paid and you shouldn't to ask him to do anything again. His parents must be jerks.
NTA.. He lost your cat. He lost your house key. He lied to you. I would have done the same thing. As someone said in their response, you should show them the receipts for rekeying the house and buying new keys and tell them that you're just going to charge him what you would have paid. I also hope you had the good sense to change your garage code.
I'm so glad your cat came back and was alright; hope your dog was too. Really it's the lying and that the kid lost the keys and lock has to be changed that's inexcusable. If I lost someone else's house key they'd intusted to me I'd feel compelled to pay to have the lock changed and if if was my child that did it I'd also feel responsible to do so; not demand payment!
I have a dog and an indoor cat. I have a key to my house. I'm 16. His age is not an excuse. Please don't try to make it one. I also dog sat for a day for these two in the village a few years ago (my brother had a commitment and couldn't watch them that day so I volunteered instead) with no issues. To be fair to him, though, I'd imagine he must've felt really ashamed and guilty, so confessing he'd lost their cat must've felt impossible (at least it would've been for me). Mother needs to back off (since it seems from this story that she's the one really badgering from no pay. And you can't really claim he was "whining" as it was possible his mother asked him about the pay and he responded honestly)
I would not pay to a person who disregards an animals welfare and doesn’t seem to be upset about the fact that he lost not just an INDOOR cat but also the keys. Keys can be replaced but the cat could have been run over, killed or otherwise lost forever in which case I would SUE.
I bet if the kid had shown one iota of remorse, they'd have responded differently to the problems.
I agree. He shouldn't have been paid. The problem with society is there are too many bleeding hearts and parents who give in to their kids instead of being parents and not friends. Everyone can say what they want, but as an adult if you don't do your job you get fired. Welcome to the real world kid
I would have called the cops and Animal Control to file a complaint against him for blatant neglect. Mommy and 'Baby' can find out FAST that many cops don't like animal abusers/neglecters. And no, I don't care that he's 16. What if he had been babysitting a toddler and decided to lie about how long it had been missing? If the kid had admitted to his mistake and immediately called animal control, then made a real effort to locate the cat, he would have gotten partially paid because mistakes happen. He never would have had access to my house or fids again, but there would have been *far fewer* bad feelings. This is the type of kid who will use the OP as a reference and then be shocked when a *bad* review of his capabilities was given.
NTA. As an In-home pet sitter myself, I've done some fk ups. Didn't lose an animal, but I did break a plate once by accident. I let them know and they said I could either buy a replacement or they'd take it out of the pay. I bought them a new plate. Sure it was only $2 but but at that time I was making $25 for a 24 hr period. NOT PER HOUR. It's a fair chunk. But I owned up to the fk up and paid up. This kid LOST YOUR CAT AND DIDNT TELL YOU!!!! I had a dog get lose once and immediately called the parent. They came home and we got her inside. I was uninformed that the collar had been uped in size (matingail collar/slip on collar for a greyhound). The result. She never asked me to come back. She just took her dog to work with her. In 7 yrs, that's the only thing that happens like that.
My worse fck ups as a pet sitter have been the key breaking in the lock, getting bit by a spider, and a dog breaking a fence board when he ran full sprint after a squirrel
Load More Replies... Make a itemized bill and send it to the mother of the boy demanding payment for damages (locksmith) and negligence (letting the cat escape). Take them to small claims court and sue the mother since she thinks he should be paid for stupidity. If the cat would have been killed there is no replacing a beloved family pet. This would be the best way to teach both the idiot mother and the negligent kid how the real world works. PS. I would have never gave them the lock code for the garage, I would have told him to have his mother call a locksmith at her expense.
NTA! NTA! NTA! As a human who has had to bury his pet cat that got out & was hit by a car 🚗 I'm very happy to read the cat returned safely. I have pet-sit for friends' cat(s), and caring for another person's PETS IS AN EXTREMELY IMPORTANT DUTY, and serious matter of TRUST. Plus, losing the housekey?! I'm not trying to advocate a Hatfields vs. McCoys escalation, but methinks [bleep] those neighbors. The young man completely blew it -- did he even truly APOLOGIZE? #petsarefamilytoo
The boy should pay the owner so they can use the money to find the cat since he doesn't want to look for the cat.
Happily, their cat was hanging around its home / yard.
Load More Replies... Never hire teenagers for tasks that are important to you. Teens are too immature to keep themselves. Every now and again you'll run into a mature teen but it is few and far between. And his mom is the reason he's so immature. She should really try to actually parent him sometime.
Because he is young and has no job experience previously, I would go over the rekeying cost and anxiety over your cat being lost for several days. While going over the particulars, I would include the amount you would have paid him minus the costs you incurred + place $ value for his dishonesty , but credit him something for taking care of the dog. I would have a breakdown on paper.
I would not pay someone who lost my cat. Job failed no money. The money is ridiculous and is enabling this useless teenager
I would tell him to please use them as a reference for future jobs and then be sure to reference the hell out of him. No jobs for you young man.
NTA. The boy had responsibility for the animal and failed in the task. IMHO both parties are wrong. The owners should have chipped the cat and or put a tracking device on the cat to aid in the animals recovery. I also recommend spaying or neutering the cat if it's a male. This tends to reduce the cat's natural instinct to roam and hunt. The city is a dangerous place for a feral animal and a little thoughtfulness on the part of the owner could save the animal's life.
Bored Panda actually paid someone to put together this convoluted, confusing rewrite of a Reddit post? This is garbage content.
A 9 year old lossing there house key is an accident. A 16 year old lossing a key they've been entrusted with to do paid work is negligence.
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