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Guy Finds Lost Cat, Brings It To Its Owners, Asks For $500 Promised Reward, Gets Sneered At And Judged
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Guy Finds Lost Cat, Brings It To Its Owners, Asks For $500 Promised Reward, Gets Sneered At And Judged

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You’d think that the person who returns your missing cat to you should be welcomed with open arms and proclaimed an honorary friend. However, that’s not always the case with lost pets. You see, there are some people out there who make promises they don’t plan to keep, just to get what they want.

One family promised a hefty sum of $500 reward money to whoever found their lost cat. When a person showed up on their doorstep with the pet cat in tow, the family was overjoyed. For about a minute. That’s when they realized that the Good Samaritan actually wanted the reward money and wasn’t just searcing for the hiding cat out of the kindness of his heart.

The man who found the family pet was so distraught by the experience that he turned to the ‘Am I the Assh*le’ community on Reddit to hear their verdict on what he should have done.

A man found a lost cat and decided to bring it back to its owners

Image credits: Alan Stanton (not the actual photo)

Image credits: Steve Baker (not the actual photo)

When he asked for the offered reward, he was met with an unexpected reaction

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Image credits: kcmocats

Reddit user Kcmocats’ post on the AITA subreddit got over 15.7k upvotes. The redditor himself got 3 Silver Awards and was officially branded as ‘not the assh*le.’

The vast majority of community members thought that Kcmocats was in the right after reading his story. According to them, asking for the reward money was the right thing to do because the family promised it for returning their lost cat. After all, why make promises that you hope you won’t have to keep? And why would you get mad at someone for asking you to keep the promises that you made?

So then, should you or should you not offer a reward if you ever lose your pet? Unfortunately, the answer isn’t as clear-cut as you’d like.

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According to Pet FBI, there’s a long-standing debate about whether or not owners should offer a reward to the people who find their lost pets. Pet FBI states that in the “vast majority of the successful reunions” that they document, a reward wasn’t involved. But it can help speed things along.

Sometimes, a reward can incentivize people to be on the lookout for lost pets. However, it’s not a good idea to state the exact amount of money you’re willing to give out. Some people feed and house lost pets before returning them to their owners. So it’s a good idea to at least reimburse their expenses.

On the other hand, offering rewards does have its downsides. For instance, some believe that it encourages pet-napping (i.e. kidnapping pets for profit).

Keep in mind that if somebody found your pet but refuses to let you have it unless you pay them money, that’s called extortion and you should phone 911 (or whatever the extension number for the police is where you are).

Have you ever found and returned a lost pet, dear Pandas? Perhaps someone returned your own pet to you? Let us know what happened and if you took/offered a reward in the comments below.

Most people thought that the cat-finder was in the right

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But some people thought that the man was wrong to demand the reward money

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Jonas Grinevičius

Jonas Grinevičius

Writer, BoredPanda staff

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Storytelling, journalism, and art are a core part of who I am. I've been writing and drawing ever since I could walk—there is nothing else I'd rather do. My formal education, however, is focused on politics, philosophy, and economics because I've always been curious about the gap between the ideal and the real. At work, I'm a Senior Writer and I cover a broad range of topics that I'm passionate about: from psychology and changes in work culture to healthy living, relationships, and design. In my spare time, I'm an avid hiker and reader, enjoy writing short stories, and love to doodle. I thrive when I'm outdoors, going on small adventures in nature. However, you can also find me enjoying a big mug of coffee with a good book (or ten) and entertaining friends with fantasy tabletop games and sci-fi movies.

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Jonas Grinevičius

Jonas Grinevičius

Writer, BoredPanda staff

Storytelling, journalism, and art are a core part of who I am. I've been writing and drawing ever since I could walk—there is nothing else I'd rather do. My formal education, however, is focused on politics, philosophy, and economics because I've always been curious about the gap between the ideal and the real. At work, I'm a Senior Writer and I cover a broad range of topics that I'm passionate about: from psychology and changes in work culture to healthy living, relationships, and design. In my spare time, I'm an avid hiker and reader, enjoy writing short stories, and love to doodle. I thrive when I'm outdoors, going on small adventures in nature. However, you can also find me enjoying a big mug of coffee with a good book (or ten) and entertaining friends with fantasy tabletop games and sci-fi movies.

Justinas Keturka

Justinas Keturka

Author, BoredPanda staff

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I'm the Visual Editor at Bored Panda, responsible for ensuring that everything our audience sees is top-notch and well-researched. What I love most about my job? Discovering new things about the world and immersing myself in exceptional photography and art.

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Justinas Keturka

Justinas Keturka

Author, BoredPanda staff

I'm the Visual Editor at Bored Panda, responsible for ensuring that everything our audience sees is top-notch and well-researched. What I love most about my job? Discovering new things about the world and immersing myself in exceptional photography and art.

Hey pandas, what do you think?
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jem3 avatar
Lingon
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I would be ashamed of myself if I offered an reward and then tried to weasel my way out of paying it. The owners had no clue if they really needed the money and spent hours looking for the cat just to be able to pay things like medical bills etc.

claireskrine avatar
Just saying
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Side point, but the reward poster was in pounds - this therefore happened in Britain and we don't have medical bills.

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bp_10 avatar
WilvanderHeijden
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It really doesn't matter how much effort the guy put in to return the cat. The owners offered the reward in writing. He fulfilled his part of the deal, they had to pay. It's as simple as that. If the owners couldn't afford to pay that amount, they shouldn't have offered it.

franziska-birk avatar
Francis
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

why did they not just write "reward for who finds the cat" without an exact amount of money? so you can give the finder like 10$ and everybody is happy. when my cat got lost, i did this and the finder didn't want to have the money or a cup of coffee or anything..

pothayto avatar
Atlas
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I think you got it right. They probably offered a lot of money so people would go looking for them. How lazy. Anyway, they should've at least have the reward in hands when asking the guy to bring the cat over. I know /I/ wouldn't accept the money, but if they offered to pay, they shouldn't be mad to actually be asked to pay :S

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jem3 avatar
Lingon
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I would be ashamed of myself if I offered an reward and then tried to weasel my way out of paying it. The owners had no clue if they really needed the money and spent hours looking for the cat just to be able to pay things like medical bills etc.

claireskrine avatar
Just saying
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Side point, but the reward poster was in pounds - this therefore happened in Britain and we don't have medical bills.

Load More Replies...
bp_10 avatar
WilvanderHeijden
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It really doesn't matter how much effort the guy put in to return the cat. The owners offered the reward in writing. He fulfilled his part of the deal, they had to pay. It's as simple as that. If the owners couldn't afford to pay that amount, they shouldn't have offered it.

franziska-birk avatar
Francis
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

why did they not just write "reward for who finds the cat" without an exact amount of money? so you can give the finder like 10$ and everybody is happy. when my cat got lost, i did this and the finder didn't want to have the money or a cup of coffee or anything..

pothayto avatar
Atlas
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I think you got it right. They probably offered a lot of money so people would go looking for them. How lazy. Anyway, they should've at least have the reward in hands when asking the guy to bring the cat over. I know /I/ wouldn't accept the money, but if they offered to pay, they shouldn't be mad to actually be asked to pay :S

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