Calling animal control on a neighbor is never a decision anyone makes lightly — especially when you have already tried everything else first.

A woman who had watched her negligent neighbor shut her formerly indoor cat out of his own home spent months leaving notes and having conversations that went nowhere.

So when the heat got bad enough that the cat was visibly panting on the stoop, she made the call. Animal control confirmed no vaccines, no neutering, and left a notice.

The owner came home and started banging on doors. That’s when things really got ugly.

Keep reading for the full story.

AITA for calling animal control on my neighbors cat?

I called animal control on my neighbor’s cat yesterday — she is an indoor cat that my neighbor allows to roam outside, which isn’t an issue on its own.

When she first started letting him out a few months ago, he would sit at her door and whine non-stop.

The neighbor really isn’t the most attentive pet owner.

She would let him back in occasionally, but now that has stopped and he is outside 24/7.

She doesn’t really even acknowledge him when she walks past him most of the time.

He will chase after her hoping to go inside with her, but she will shut the door on him.

This homeowner is starting to feel a bit fed up by the whole thing.

I’ve confronted her about this multiple times with notes on the door saying things like, “Hey girly, I think he wants to be inside as he is meowing at your door and fighting the other cats.”

She responded with, “He is lonely inside, doesn’t get along with other cats I’ve brought home, and he needs to make friends.”

She also complained about him “peeing everywhere.”

It’s starting to cross the line from annoying to just inhumane.

The reason I called now instead of back then is because the weather is becoming hotter and he is just sitting on the door stoop panting.

I am also trying to do TNR (trap-neuter-return) with the already 20+ stray cats in the neighborhood, and having one less cat on the street — at least in the evenings — would be wonderful.

So animal control got involved and things only got nastier from there.

After calling animal control, they left a note on her door yesterday, and I verified that the cat was still outside after they left the note.

They confirmed he is not neutered and doesn’t have rabies or any of the required vaccines.

When she got home last night, she began banging on my door and yelling from her apartment things like, “I hope you’re happy — they’re gonna take him away from me!” and “You didn’t see how sad he was as an indoor cat!”

I feel conflicted — he is a very sweet cat and deserves someone that actively cares for him.

I keep thinking, “Did I do something wrong?” and what I would feel in this situation, which would also be anger and sadness.

AITA?

This homeowner definitely had good intentions.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about neighbors who can’t get along because of a totally legal gate.

The internet chimes in with their takes.

This neighbor is doing some wild mental gymnastics to justify her problematic behavior.

The only thing this commenter would have done differently is ratting out the neighbor sooner.

What this neighbor really did is just out herself as a terrible pet owner.

The neighbor also clearly doesn’t understand how cats work.

The audacity of shutting your cat outside full time, ignoring him at the door, and then banging on your neighbor’s wall yelling “I hope you’re happy” when someone finally steps in is a special kind of cognitive dissonance.

This homeowner tried notes. She tried conversations. She watched that cat chase after his owner and get a closed door for months before the heat finally made inaction feel impossible.

Animal control confirmed what the neighbor already knew — unvaccinated, unneutered, and fully outside in rising temperatures.

The owner’s anger at being reported says a lot more about her than the person who made the call. If the cat was so precious to her, she could have just been a better owner.