Set The Scene
Picture a tiny, harmless, cute, spunky long haired Chihuahua. You must be thinking, “how cute.” Now think of that same cute Chihuahua being threatened by an unapologetic woman with a vendetta against her neighbors because of her horrible, trespassing son. Now you must be thinking, “ok not so cute anymore.” Well one Reddit user, who we’ll call Ella, shared her traumatic experience with her entitled neighbor Anne, the woman’s “crotch stain” of a son Eric and her own poor Chihuahua. Eric was caught trespassing in Ella’s yard and is bitten by her dog, and instead of Anne apologizing for Eric’s behavior, she gets aggressive, demands the dog be put down and even gets a judge involved. Since Anne takes legal action, Ella is nervous for the well-being of her dog and her home, but karma was there to save the day in the end.
The Tales Of Ponky The Spunky Chihuahua
Ella was 20 and living with her mom, Maria, in the Dominican Republic while she finished college. She loved it there, and felt that everyone was very welcoming. At the time, she had a little long haired Chihuahua named Ponky. She described him as the sweetest dog in the world, she really loved him. And she noted that the neighborhood kids generally loved him because he was always up for playing with. She described him as a spunky dog with a lot of energy and would never hurt anyone intentionally.
The Cashew Tree
At the time they were living in a nice neighborhood with generally nice, caring people. The house they lived in had a large backyard, lots of room for Ponky to play. Instead of a fence, the backyard had a 7-foot wall surrounding it, and there was a large cashew tree close to the wall (this is important to the story). This cashew tree was very popular among the neighborhood. Many of the kids liked to come over and pick from the tree and then play with Ponky.
Now when this trees bear fruit, it doesn’t hold back. Ella’s mom Maria would usually give the fruit away to the neighborhood kids and all that came were very respectable and gracious. Maria and Ella did not mind getting the fruit for the kids, they liked the interaction, and the only thing they required of the kids was that they asked first before getting the fruit, just out of politeness and courtesy for the sometimes skittish Ponky. Ponky loved people, but he did not like when people surprised him (this is also important).
All He Has To Do Is Ask
This is where things get interesting.
Ella and Maria always made sure the kids and parents understood they have to ask first but as always, there was one little brat that ruins it for everyone.
Enter the kid from across the street, Eric. Aka brat, aka crotch stain, aka devil child. Ella always knew there was something off about him.
He got it into his head that he didn’t have to knock on the door and ask for fruit. He would instead climb the seven-foot wall and take the fruit from the tree, thus violating the one rule that Maria had when it came to the fruit tree.
What Eric did not understand is that this would make Ponky go crazy, thinking there was an intruder in his yard. But Eric did it anyway and when Maria heard barking she had to run outside to get Eric down and calm Ponky. She was also worried he would hurt himself without any supervision! Now, Maria was a smart lady and knew the family was a bunch of idiots, and she didn’t want the trouble, so she let Eric go with a stern talking to and decided to not tell his mom, Anne. But this was FOURTH time she spoke to the boy, telling him, “please just come to the door, you’re scaring the dog. I will give you all the fruit you want if you ask.” Naturally Eric did not listen and this would continue until it got dangerous.
She Knew This Was Going to Happen
When talking to him didn’t work, Maria went to Eric’s house. She was worried he was going to hurt himself and hoped that Anne would acting like a parent and make him stop. She was wrong.
Maria: “Your son keeps trespassing into my yard and climbing a tall wall without supervision. He’s making the dog very upset. He can have fruit but he needs to ask.”
Anne: “I can’t control everything he does all day! He can go where ever he wants! Chain the dog if he’s being difficult!”
Maria was shocked this is actually an argument and responds with: “Well, no, he can’t go anywhere, that’s called trespassing. I won’t chain my dog in my own yard so your kid can break the law! And if he has a bad fall, or if the dog bites him, I’m not responsible!” Maria was so angry at this point and knew her tone was showing it, but she was hoping that would get the point across.
Apparently not, as Anne slammed the door in Maria’s face.
Two days later, it happened. Maria was in her room, heard a crash, barking and crying. Eric had slipped off the wall, landed on the dog’s house and completely destroyed it, and the nervous little Chihuahua bit him. She knew something like was going to happen, but she did not know the situation could get worse.
Now She Did Not Expect This
Once Eric fell, Maria rushed out and made sure the bite hasn’t drawn blood and that Eric hadn’t hit his head. Once confirming he was just fine she sent him home, thinking and more so hoping he learned his lesson. An angry enough chihuahua could definitely break skin and cause some damage. Ponky wasn’t angry though, he was surprised, and had done neither.
A week later, it seemed like the dust had settled and neither Ella nor her mom have seen Eric around causing trouble. Little did they know the trouble was being caused behind the scenes.
One day, Ella goes out get the mail. Ella was shocked to find out that Anne was suing them for” medical expenses” and wanted Ella’s dog put down! Ella lost it. Ponky did nothing wrong! Eric was trespassing!
She wanted to go over and beat Anne, but her usually fiery mom settled her down, saying they’d go to court.
On the court day, Ella was very worried. She wasn’t sure what Dominican law was on the matter, but she knew that in some countries any dog that bites is automatically put down. She did not want her sweet dog to be put down because a snot nose kid didn’t have any manners and hurt himself.
Enter Anne and the judge. She was suing them for the equivalent of four thousand US dollars (in DR that’s a ridiculous amount of money) for Eric’s “medical expenses” due to the bite, and she was demanding the dog be destroyed. Ella was so upset by these charges and claims. The judge asked Maria to tell her version of events and then turned to Anne and asked, “Is everything she just told me true?”
Seemed Like It Was All Over Now
Anne was very reluctant but admitted that “yes, what she says is true.”
The judge, realizing now just how much of a waste of time this is, says, “so you’re telling me that your kid trespassed a home illegally, to steal something he could get free in the first place, destroyed property while stealing, and got bitten by a scared chihuahua as a result?”
Anne is starting to feel a little dumb and embarrassed when she says, “well yes, but my boy should be able to go where he likes, it’s his right! The dog needs to be put down so he can move freely!”
The judge was very annoyed at this point. With a stern tone she tells her, “No, your kid is NOT entitled to go where he wants in other people’s property. Sorry for the wake up call. Do you let strangers wander into YOUR home whenever they like? Do you have photos of the child’s wound?”
This was the fine straw in Anne’s case, “No…. he didn’t break any skin.”
The judge says, “Then how do you explain your supposed medical bills for the bite?” Quickly the judge turned to Maria: “Can I see this dog”
Maria showed the judge a photo of Ponky. The judge rolled her eyes. Seemed like all was over now because Anne had no case.
Happy Ending
This was the judge’s chance to knock some sense into Anne.
“Do you understand that if your child would’ve trespassed in to a home with a large dog breed, he would be dead?”
Ella and Maria had a slight smile when the judge looked at them and said, “You are free to go. If you decide to counter sue for destruction of property and trespassing, feel free to do so, you have a good case.”
Maria thanked the judge with a slight smile on her face. “Thank you, but I just want to go home. And assurance that they won’t bother us again.”
All was right in the end. And on top of it all, Anne had to pay for Maria’s legal fees. Guess that could be considered karma for dragging them all the way to court AND trying to get their dog put down.