Pets grow to be much-loved members of the family, but they can be really expensive to keep.
Sometimes unexpected injuries can happen, and you might be expected to fork out a lot of money in vet bills – but it's usually understood that it's the owner's responsibility to pay.
One person feels it's unreasonable for her to contribute to her friend's dog's vet bill after it sustained an injury.
The student explained that her friend and her boyfriend have a dog who "they never bothered to train properly".
In a Reddit forum post, the woman, who remained anonymous, said: "The only command the dog knows is sit, but the worst thing is that he is mouthy and will jump on people when they come through the door."
She explained that the dog, a Staffordshire Bull Terrier, weighs "almost 40 pounds and it's quite a problem".
The woman continued: "This past Friday they insisted I come over for drinks instead of us meeting at a bar, and when I came through the door their dog came running towards me at full speed and jumped at me while Amy and her boyfriend laughed.
"I put up my hands on instinct to shield my face and brace myself since I am quite short, and I ended up scratching the dog's eye with my nails. Amy and her boyfriend got really mad at me and had to take their dog to the vet later in the night because he wasn't doing well."
The woman then received a text from the friend asking for her to pay the whole vet bill – which came to £906.
She continued: "I refused for two reasons: One, the vet bill is nearly the same amount as my rent, and I simply can't afford it without breaking the bank, and two, I've been telling them to train their damn dog for nearly a year now which they haven't done, and it lunges and chews on anything that moves."
According to the woman, her friend thinks she is being "an irresponsible adult" and "have made it clear that they themselves cannot afford the surprise expense".
Most of the people in the comment section agreed that it wasn't her fault as she didn't intentionally hurt the dog.
One person said: "You didn't intentionally hurt the dog and if he didn't jump up at you nothing would have happened. I think they learned an expensive lesson that they should have trained their dog"
Another said: "The dog was a danger to you, and you responded by trying to protect yourself. The injury was not intentional and was preventable if they had reasonable care and control of their animal. I feel bad for the dog because the owners have set him up to fail."
"It doesn't even matter how much the bill is. You are not responsible for what happened when the dog jumped on you. You didn't attack the dog, you protected yourself. This is all on them. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise," added a third.
What do you think? Let us know in the comment section below.
