This Man Was Looking After His Neighbor’s House For A Few Weeks, Then They Disappeared For One Year

Traveling can be stressful when you’re leaving your treasured pets and home behind.  Though some people treat their pets as members of their family and wouldn’t dream of leaving them behind, sometimes it’s just not an option to travel with pets.  

The obliging neighbor posted his story on Reddit, and he recounted that he had been approached by his neighbors and asked to look after their house and pets while they were away for three weeks. 

The neighbor opened his inbox to an unexpected request from his neighbors overseas. In the email, they explained they needed more time to get their affairs in order, and asked if he and his wife would be willing to watch their animals for a little longer. 

It all started innocently enough. “My neighbor, who had been away on a trip, was due to return home but never did. After being overdue by almost a week, I emailed them but received no reply to my email. Then, to make matters worse, their phone line was disconnected at the end of the month,” he said. 

With a heavy heart, the neighbor posted about the mysterious disappearance of his neighbors. “I don’t know what happened to them,” he said, “but they just never came back. I don’t know if they ended up in some sort of prison, or decided to just not come home at all.”

Struggling to contain his frustration, the man found himself staring at a much more complicated – and costly – situation than he ever could have imagined when agreed to look after the house and pets. “I paid to have the leak fixed, and I spent the entire day draining the basement with my shop vac,” he said. 

He found himself in an unfamiliar situation, one he wasn’t quite sure how to navigate. The two large German Shepherds were becoming a bit too much to handle for such an extended period of time. Adding to the frustration was that the neighbor’s last name was a common one, making it difficult to track them down. 

We all know how it feels to be overwhelmed by a seemingly insurmountable problem. It’s natural to want to push it away to the back burner, to delay facing the possible consequences. That was the case for the neighbor, who waited a full year before finally attempting to address it. 

The power at the neighbor’s home was still on and the internet was also still connected. Could it be that they were still paying the bills from overseas? More likely he reasoned that the payments were being automatically deducted from their bank account. 

He had initially only agreed to pet sit and house sit for three weeks, but when his friends didn’t return as expected, he was suddenly responsible for everything with no end date in sight. At a loss for how to handle the situation, and with no one else to turn to, he did as everyone suggested and reported them missing. 

After a year of his neighbors being away without hearing another word from them, Reddit users responding to the posts said he should give up on hearing from his neighbors, and place the matter in the hands of the relevant authorities.

Still unsure how to proceed with it all, he considered the advice he’d received. The consensus was that the house wasn’t his responsibility to look after and he should just leave it.

Still, he remained torn. Leaving the house was one thing, but giving the dogs up was another matter entirely. Who knew how well they would be cared for at an animal shelter, or by someone else who adopted them? Not only that, but he had to admit he’d grown quite fond of the two German Shepherds. 

The next post from the neighbor was a different one. He wasn’t seeking more advice but wanted to update those following the saga on the whereabouts of his missing neighbors, in an attempt to quell the growing rumors and suspicions about his neighbors. To everyone’s relief, it was nothing dire, however, it was clear that the neighbors had not been the most responsible citizens. 

After much deliberation, and advice from his friends, the man explained that he had finally reached out to the police and the embassy. He provided them with as many details as he could and waited for a response. To his relief, he received a phone call with the news. 

After many months of caring for their pets, the neighbors apologized for the inconvenience he had suffered. “He apologized and said he was sorry. He gave me two options: either I could keep the pets since I had been taking care of them for so long, or he would ask his relative to take them.”

Owning a pet is a responsibility and every pet deserves to be loved and well cared for. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case for these poor dogs and their feline companion, whose owners really didn’t seem to take much interest in their fate, and were rather unconcerned as to what would happen to them. 

After being tracked down, the neighbors explained that they could no longer access their email – which explained why they didn’t reply – and provided a new email and phone number so they could be contacted. They further explained that returning to their Canadian home was not currently on their agenda. 

It all started with a simple request: house and pet sitting. Little did he know that when he agreed, it would end up being a lifetime commitment! “Me and my wife are going to keep the pets simply because, well, I don’t think either of us can part with the dogs and his cat at this point,” he said.