No issues here
No issues here
194 comments
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As a parent, if my kid did that, I'd likely side with the neighbour. I would put it (very loosely) in the category of "natural consequence" punishments.
It fits the crime, it discourages the crime, it forces empathy with the cat, and it does no real harm.
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This is my favorite answer. I'd argue that he got less than the natural consequences of his actions. In nature, when one assaults another, even with something as harmless as water, it's usually reasonable to interpret it as a threat, the response to which is usually violence. That kid is lucky he didn't get a face full of claws. I've gotten a lot worse from gently touching cats that, as it turned out, didn't want to be touched. Boundaries are important.
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Natural consequences doesn't mean "law of the jungle" here. It just means linking cause and effect in a proportionate manner.
I tend to use a lot of "natural consequence parenting". Basically, the response should flow from the cause. If you throw water over your friend, you can't then complain if they throw water over you. You learn that, while it's fun when expected, it can be deeply unpleasant when unexpected.
It's a lot more effective than random generic punishments. The trick is shielding them from excessive results, while allowing proportional ones to play out. E.g. swinging on a chair will get a warning, but often not stopped. When they fall, there's an "I told you so" before/with the cuddle. If there is a risk of a more serious injury however, e.g. the corner of a table where their head may hit, then I step in and stop things.
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I like that approach. But when the parent only has their kid's half of the story, it's understandable why they would be pissed. I think most of us would be. Why did they do that to my kid? I'd want answers amd I wouldn't be happy about it.
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I suspect most kids who would throw water at a cat like that would not be very good liars about it. Also, adults tend not to dump water on kids for no reason. I would definitely take the time to pick apart what happened, before going full papa bear mode.
I might be pissed, but my instinct would be to find out who I should be pissed at first, before going on the war path.
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I think it depends a bit on where the cat is. If my cat is in somebody’s yard and the owner does not like it, it’s perfectly fine to spray my cat with water. In fact I do the same to my neighbours cat to prevent cat fights. If my cat is on neutral territory, I would be more pissed.
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Agreed, there are 1001 context points that could change things around, one way, or the other.
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My head hurts from reading that. Comma and periods, people. Comma and periods.
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I was gifted Robert Merle's The Day of the Dolphin once. They told me it was a great book. I'm still sure it is, but I couldn't get past the 2nd page. The lack of punctuation made it awfully cumbersome to read.
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..,clea.rly ,,.com.,.,mas .,….a n .,.d ,p,e,r,i,o,d,s……,.,.,areimportant
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please dont say we need to use correct grammer its unnecessary periods or commas in all of history have never really added anything to a sentence or body of text writing is about the soul not trying to control peoples formatting formatting its self is often overrated and not at all necessary inorder to discern what the meaning is of the writers passage
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Boooo
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We need to use correct grammar.
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Well executed
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holy shit this flew right over peoples heads
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My neighbors daughter had one of those water guns. I told her if she shoots at me, I'll get the hose and retaliate. She grinned, shot at me, and ran away laughing.
I talked to her dad, he nodded, and when she came back for more mischief, she got wet.
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If it was funny to do it to the Cat.... It was hilarious doing it to the kid.
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Can confirm.
I have a robot that clears snow on my driveway (it’s a diy build,). One winter, we were having problems with a couple teenage boys chucking snowballs at cars.
Their dads conspired to teach them a lesson.
They recruited me and S5-SY (the robot, pronounced “Sassy”,).
So they played some mind games to get the kids to think it was their idea to record themselves-live- chucking snowballs at the “defenseless” robot.
In the video, the robot turned to face them, drove itself into the snow bank and turned on its sweeper to give them the worst white wash of their lives.
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i think i still remember where i was the first time i saw this posted
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Some say the neighor is still pounding on the door. But that kid went in Congress.
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yeah, and now he's albert freaking einstein!
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Like, I agree with the tit for tat. But don't let your cat outside.
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Who tf gets a pet cat and doesn't let it outside? If you don't have space for a cat don't get one.
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cats destroy native wildlife… at least in australia, it’s a huge problem
https://invasives.org.au/our-work/feral-animals/cats-in-australia/
(whilst this article references feral cats, there’s obviously minimal difference between feral cats and roaming house cats as far as wildlife destruction goes)
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Who tf gets a pet cat and doesn’t let it outside?
People that love their cats and don't want them to die young. Outdoor cats live an average of 2-5 years, indoor-only cats live an average of 10-15 years. By allowing cats outside, they're exposed to pathogens, parasites, and dangers that they wouldn't otherwise experience. In my area, there are coyotes, bobcats, rattlesnakes, hawks, and owls, all of which will quite happily make a meal of a cat. There are also cars; they don't tend to be able to stop on a dime.
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Letting it roam freely risks it getting hurt and without you being there to help it. It's not very responsible.
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Everyone here balancing the ethics of getting wet like it's assault.
Water melts snowflakes and wicked witches, everyone else need not worry.
All living things should be used to being wet either all the time or somewhat regularly. To think beyond that, wow, society has its teeth in you and you are lost.
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It is assault, though.
Kid acted maliciously towards the cat. It's not like the kid accidentally knocked a bottle of water and some of it splashed the cat. No. There was a conscious decision to torment the cat by deliberately throwing water over it.
Punishment fits the crime here.
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I'll remember to call the police every time it rains.
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The cat could panic, run away and get lost. Small a actions can have big consequences.
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If you're worried about your cat running away you shouldn't let it roam free.
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If my neighbor did ANYTHING to my pets, they'd be lucky to only get sprayed with water.
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I could take shit from people to some extent but if it is my pets, I am putting a smile on that face
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Yeah but with a ten year old, talk to their parents first. You want to drench a child without their consent? Okay but they had better be in an environment that can explain to them that this is a tit for tat type thing. A ten year old doesn't understand a lot of things and it's not up to the child to perform what we expect them to. Do they need to be corrected, yes. Does doing it so callously benefit anyone? Only a bully. There's a huge difference between constructive discipline and just straight up punishment. It takes an adult to know the difference.
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That the risk you take with an outdoor cat. It's not even like water is harmful to it.
I used to have an outdoor cat and if that happened I would have shrugged it off and expected him not to go there again.
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That's the risk you take with an outdoor brat. It's not even like water is harmful to it.
I used to have an outdoor brat and if that happened I would have shrugged it off and expected him not to go there again.
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Both takes are 100% correct
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I mean... yeah
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Oh my god i wrote mine after you wrote yours.
Yours is way better. Kudos.
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What're you in The Bloods, you can't say cat? C'mon 5, what's brackin'?
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"Nobody got hurt, just LET ASSHOLE BE ASSHOLES! MUH FREEDUMS!"
Nah, I'm a firm believer in 'Fuck around and Find out'
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That the risk you take
Well someone might just hit your car, that's the risk you take by driving, nobody got hurt, they shouldn't be held accountable. I would have shrugged it off and started taking the bus.
This is fun, we can remove all accountability from everything that's not harming someone directly!
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It's the risk you take letting your kid go outside. It's not even like water is harmful to it.
I used to have a kid that went outside and if thst happened I would have shrugged it off and expected him to not go there anymore.
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We've a lot of cats coming through the garden. I wouldn't mind if not for my dog, who does and goes insane when she spots a cat. So I've been thinking about getting a super soaker to chase them away. I think that's pretty harmless, and perhaps they learn to skip our garden after a while... What do you lot think?
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Why not simply work on training your dog to be less reactive?
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Working on that. Still would prefer cats to skip my garden though!
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Hahah simply. I've only trained a handful of dogs, so professional dog trainers sound off here but there are dogs that are more or less untrainable. Sure difficult dogs can learn a few manors or tricks, but either because an abundance or lack of intelligence they're not going to ever be a show dog. Depending on the dog maybe the best they get is just not as reactive instead.
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Naw, that’s a good boi — I don’t want the neighbors’ cats on my property.
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"If your mother doesn't teach you manners, the world will." My friend from Kenya told me it's an old proverb where he's from.
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Idk,
Shouting “Hey, don’t do that” loud and clear may be more effective.
- kid may have thought they where alone and will get jumped from getting caught.
- May alert the parents their kid is up to mischief.
- Doesn’t potentially start an escalation war with neighbors
- Doesn’t carry the small risk of the child falling or otherwise getting hurt with you as an easy blame.
Think of it like this: Does the kid now understand the “evil” of their actions to try be better next time. Or will they feel vindicated by their parents support against your “evil”
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You're right, but this is fuck around and find out territory. I would want the escalation to make it clear where I stand with my cat.
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Or will they feel vindicated by their parents support against your “evil”
Then that's a parental problem, not a problem caused by the action.
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You're probably in the right here, but at least they'll know what it's like to be assaulted with water.
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The code of Hammurabi clearly states an eye for an eye.
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"Teach the bully to be more careful before they torment animals."
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I’ll take things that never happened for 200$
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Yes, no 10 year-old ever threw water at a cat.
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Dollars two hundred.
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Throwing water at each other, the way people used to throw eggs...
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Don't worry. Water prices will start going up too.
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If my kid did that, I'd let you splash them again.
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Truly cannot conceive of any other appropriate response. My kid's an asshole sometimes, better he get gentle lessons now.
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"Next time it won't be water".
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Bullets?
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Let's start with feces, John Wayne.
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A bucket of bullets does not sound that threatening. A bucket of battery acid, tepid water, or mud, a bit more. Although I would not recommend escalating stuff in general, people fucking around pets needs that sometimes.
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ESH. Kid shouldn't have done it, but also the lady shouldn't let the cat outside
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I don't get why Americans hate animals. You do realise earth isn't owned by humans?
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Mate, cats are not a native species. They hunt for sport and wind up absolutely destroying the local ecosystem. Outdoor cats should be killed onsight like literally any other invasive species.
"These are non-native predators that, even using conservative estimates, kill 1.3–4 billion birds and 6.3–22.3 billion mammals each year in the U.S. alone (Loss et al. 2013, Nature Communications)"
I personally care more about my local ecosystem than some cat that someone is too lazy to play with and keep entertained.
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plot twist: kids a radical ecologist, keep ya cat indoors.
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I agree with the "don't be shitty to animals" sentiment, but I'm honestly a little surprised no one else has bothered to consider how shitty that cat might be. If it was always shitting in your yard, picking fights your cat or dog, using your bird feeder as a cat feeder, and tearing up your flower beds, then a cup of water is a pretty benign deterrent that still has a chance of being effective.
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If they're caught in the act, sure. A great cat training tool is a spray bottle of water. But from the story it sounds like the cat wasn't doing anything at the time, so even if it is a nuisance animal, no correlation is made with an act and a punishment. Not true on the kid, he got something right when he did his malicious action, so if he has any intelligence he might connect the two and not do it again.
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Exactly. There are endangered birds and amphibians who call my garden home. I do not want cats going in there and killing them for sport.
Get a catio! Don't destroy native wildlife.
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How DARE you interact with my poor, helpless cat, who I lovingly toss outside to slaughter songbirds, pick up parasites, and maybe get flattened by a car. I don't generally give a single solitary shit what happens to it out there, but this splash of water is TOO FAR.
Edit:
Please stop letting your cat out. It's not good for your cat or the local wildlife.
https://daily.jstor.org/environmental-danger-outdoor-cats/
https://www.bbc.com/news/scienceenvironment-21236690p
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I think most people just have no idea how terrible outdoor cats are for native wildlife. It should be illegal, just like how you can't let your dog wander around freely.
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On one side, I like to prank cats. on the other, I hate other peoples children.
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blocked, mauuu
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Speciesism
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Cruelty met in kind.
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There's a difference between justice and revenge
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That's true, but in what spirit are you making that observation here?
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In this case, they go hand in hand
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Yep. There's also a difference between "fuck around and find out" and a 1978 Ford Pinto, since we're just stating obvious things here...
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If someone intentionally caused harm to any of my cats, I live near a large national forest, and once you get a few hundred yards off a trail, no one is going to find a body.
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Yep you harm a hair on my cats head, my vengeance will be swift and brutal
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Let your cats go outside: Bad.
Attacking cats that are outside: Even worse.
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Let your cats go outside: Bad.
Let you cats go outside with a leash and harness while you take them for a walk: good.
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Attacking cats that are outside: Even worse.
Tossing water at a car is hardly "attacking" it, homie
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Inside: pet
Outside: pest
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Stop letting your children roam, you assholes. Maybe keep your child off your neighbours property? Don’t make your child someone else’s pest and they won’t be treated as such.
Roaming children are a big problem, not to mention the entitlement of parents who think it’s ok to open their doors and let their children fuck off to do whatever on whoever’s property. Imagine if foster parents did that? They rightly have their foster child taken away and charged
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As someone who has had neighbor's children randomly walk into my house and demand things like food, water (I won't say no to children, I'm not heartless), and use of my TV and internet. I'm sorry, but don't let kids be pest is unironic in some areas. Some people haven't socialized their kids properly and we were the ones who had to explain to these kids (4 to 6 year olds) that wandering without permission into other people's houses was not only inappropriate but dangerous to them. We, the strangers, telling these kids that they should be wary of strangers. The parents just didn't give a fuck and wouldn't even talk to us, but they were apparently fine with their kids roaming into stranger's homes. I'm glad we moved away.
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Funny thing is that most children in the West nowadays are indoors children that only ever go outside to be driven between places.
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As if the kid threw the water for that reason. Maybe the neighbor shouldn’t have let the kid roam? Would fit your logic.
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People who “love” animals but hate children and people tend to be not ok in the head
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Cats are not the same as humans
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Americans will use anything but the metric system
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OP sounds like they might be British. The spelling of "neighbour" and the use of "Mental" kinda give it away.
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Or one of many English-speaking countries that use that spelling!
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"he just threw zero point one liter, or one deciliter water on my cat"
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In this case by cup it probably actually refers to a pint glass of water (two measuring cups), but in any case not an exact measurement, so it doesn't make sense to give exact measurements. Its describing the vessels of transportation, not the amounts.
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I mean I'd just punch that lady..the cats are going to be fine but children are easily traumatized. All she had to do was talk to the parents and let them know what happened so they could discipline their kids.
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Children famously not traumatised by quick-to-violence rage parents.
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You'd punch her over a harmless bit of water? Helicopter much?
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194 comments