Gerbil Dilemma: My Neighbor Agrees To Be Paid To Take Care Of ?
Sunday, February 28th, 2010 at
4:25 pm
my other neighbors ‘s little girl’s pet Gerbil’s for two weeks while they were away on vacation.
Upon arriving home the two gerbils were found dead due to neglect. My question is, what is the legal responsibility here. The neighbor agreed to go to the pet store and replace the gerbils, is there any other liability here other than that?
The little girl wants to have a pet viewing, a funeral and a pet cemetery burial. Plus she wants the other neighbor to pay for it. What are the responsibilities here, what about pain and suffering?
Tagged with: Agrees • Care. • Dilemma • Gerbil • Neighbor • Paid • Take
Filed under: Other Pocket Pets
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Stop trying to get something for nothing.
The peson is willing to replace both gerbils, that is what you are due. Nothing more.
She could call the police to see if they’re interested in investigating for animal abuse. They could also sue for whatever money they paid and to have them replaced (not that you can replace a pet) they could make a try for pain and suffering for the sake of the little girl but there’s no guarantee that they’ll get it. And it’s highly doubtful that they’d be required to pay for all the costs of a funeral, since that’s not normal procedure for the death of a pet.
Probably best to take what they can get and let it go so that the child can get over it.
Here is my suggestion, #1 replacement Gerbils are in order, so therefore a trip to the pet store with the little girl in tow would be in order, with the neighbor who cased the mishap to foot the bill.
#2 The burial costs could be minimize by the following, since I am an old navy man I would suggest getting out a book of scriptures and read the words for a burial at sea, then flush the little buggers down the toilet. That should do it.
The one neighbor that trusted the other neighbor should be glad to now know that the first neighbor is so irresponsible as to not even be able to care for the gerbils. Fortunately, the loss was relatively small and easy to replace in real terms. It is good that they weren’t relying on that person for something that would be truly hard to replace. It is unfortunate that the girl’s pets were abused and neglected, but the lesson she can learn from this is that you have to be careful in choosing people you trust. Again, not being responsible enough to go over and provide water and food at most 3 or 4 times is almost too hard to believe.
So, for the fact that the offending neighbor has the intelligence of a dull rock, I wouldn’t expect him to offer anymore than to replace the gerbils. Morally, he should offer that as well as some other token of good will to smooth out the situation. However, to try and force any additional compensation from him would be a bigger waste of time.
Since you are not an affected party, be sure to steer clear of choosing sides if this escalates. The emotions of a parent trying to protect their child’s feelings can be very powerful if you alienate them. Or, if you alienate the rockhead that allowed the gerbils to die, then there is no telling what stupidity he is capable of. Listen, but don’t interject your concerns and it will eventually blow over.