Sometimes, good intentions can backfire, especially when different beliefs and customs come into play.

So, what would you do if you allowed a child to pet your dog, only to discover afterward that it went against his family’s religious beliefs?

Would you apologize?

Or would you stand by your actions, especially since the child was excited to meet your dog?

In the following story, a new pet owner finds themselves in this exact predicament.

Here’s how it went down.

AITA for allowing a boy to pet my dog without knowing about his religious restrictions?

I took my newly adopted dog to the vet for her routine checkup.

There was a boy ( around 5-6 years old) with his sister and mother, and they had a cat.

The mom went inside to meet the doctor and asked the boy to sit in the lobby.

He asked me if he could pet the dog, and I said okay.

She is really friendly and loves kids.

There was a reason the kid waited for his mom to leave the room before asking.

His mom came back shortly and scolded him for petting the dog and asked us why we let him.

I told her it was okay because the dog was really friendly.

She said that it was not okay because their religion doesn’t allow people to interact with dogs.

AITA?

Eek. Seems like an innocent mistake.

Let’s check out what the readers over at Reddit have to say about this.

This person thinks the mother is confused.

Great point.

Agreed – she shouldn’t expect other people to know this.

According to this person, it was probably the kid’s dream to pet a dog.

The mother left her young child alone in a vet’s office, so it’s no surprise he might interact with others, including animals.

Next time, she should arrange for a babysitter.

If you liked this post, you might want to read this story about a teacher who taught the school’s administration a lesson after they made a sick kid take a final exam.