A couple of decades ago, the UK’s biggest dog welfare charity, Dogs Trust, launched the slogan ‘a dog is for life, not just for Christmas.’ It was central to their adverts for years, meaning that generations grew up with the line in the back of their minds – just as the charity intended. Highlighting the number of people who bought pets as gifts for their loved ones, only for the pets to be abandoned as the recipient either didn’t want a pet or didn’t have the care or capacity to take care of it for the long-run, it was an effective slogan to say the least.

In fact, reports from the charity show that, by gently teaching the general public to take dog ownership seriously, they were able to truly shift public perception of pets, leading to a significant decrease in pets spending their lives – or even being euthanized – in rehoming centers.

Of course, it’s not just a festive sentiment. One of the key successes of the campaign was encouraging dog (and other pet) owners to accept that owning an animal is a lifelong commitment. And it’s true. While a pet may be only a small part of your life, as its owner you are more or less its entire life – and that’s not something to be taken lightly. Just like a child, a pet relies on you for everything – you need to be there for it when it’s sick, to gently train it, to show up to feed it every day, and to make arrangements when you are on vacation.

This is something that nowadays, most people do take seriously – after all, the majority of us adore our pets and would do anything for them. But sadly, as the woman in this story found out, there are still plenty of people out there who treat a pet as an afterthought. Read on to find out how her roommate getting a dog changed this woman’s life far more than the roommate’s – and how she’s feeling about that fact.

Am I overreacting when my roommate got a dog that I am primarily taking care of?

Over Halloween weekend, my roommate got a weenie dog (I have a two year old Boston terrier mix).

Ever since she got the dog, she has been dropping the dog off in my room while she goes to guy’s houses or to the club.

After the first time watching her dog, I told her that I was not going to watch her again because she isn’t potty trained and she has a ton of energy.

However, I think she took it as a joke.

Let’s see how this is going down now.

Recently we had a 2-3 day movie binge with the dogs, and later she got a message from a guy telling her to come over.

She stated that she would be back in a little bit, but she didn’t end up coming home until the next afternoon.

Then, she went to the club a hour or two later and I was stuck watching the dog again.

When she got back from the club later that night, after twenty minutes she asked if the dog could sleep in my room, so she could go stay the night at a guy’s house.

And that wasn’t the end of things.

She came back yesterday afternoon, and about two hours later left to go to the club and is back at the guy’s house.

I’ve been watching the dog so much that she thinks that I am her owner (she leaves the dog with me even when she is home).

Am I overreacting for telling her that she needs to either stop going out so much, so she can stay with her dog because I won’t watch her anymore, or that she should find someone else to watch her?

I have a dog of my own that is potty trained completely and has been emotionally neglected due to me having to cater to her dog.

Having a pet is a big responsibility, and it’s clearly not one that this woman’s roommate is taking seriously.

Just because this woman has a dog of her own doesn’t mean that she’s a free sitter for everyone else’s pets.

And the fact that she’s not getting to spend as much time with her own dog as a result is heartbreaking.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a dog-owner who is sick and tired of his neighbor following the letter of the (leash) law.

Let’s see what the Reddit community made of this.

This person thought that if anything, she wasn’t making enough of a fuss.

While others explained that her roommate was neglecting the dog.

Meanwhile, this Redditor explained just how sad the situation was.

It’s really easy to feel sorry for the roommate here. Sure she has her own dog – but the fact that she is a responsible, caring owner for her own pet doesn’t mean that she wants to spend her time and energy caring for – and training – someone else’s dog. In fact, the real sad thing is that because she’s repeatedly being lumbered with her friend’s dog, the time she is spending with her own beloved pet is becoming limited as a result. And that’s not fair on either of them.

But for the puppy who is being completely unloved by her owner, it’s another sorry tale. She deserves to be bonding with her new owner right now,  being trained to go to the toilet outside, as well as getting other training that will help her live a long and happy life with in her new home. Instead, she’s bonding with her owner’s roommate, who her owner is repeatedly palming her off onto, as if she’s more of an inconvenience than anything.

It’s a sad tale and one that is unfortunately too common. Owner gets a dog. Owner can’t be bothered to train the dog, or finds that the dog is getting in the way of their life. Owner dumps dog on unsuspecting friend, or ultimately ends up dropping it off at a rehoming centre. Dog finds itself abandoned in an unfamiliar environment, far from the people it has bonded with. It’s heartbreaking, but unless this woman’s roommate grows up and learns to be responsible for her pet, it’s almost inevitably the dog’s future. And it is not the dog’s fault whatsoever.