You Won’t Believe What This Man’s Dog Captured on Camera!
If you own a dog, you may wonder what they think about the things in their life. You can tell they’re excited when you come home or take them for a walk because they wag their tail, but what about when you’re not around?
A 27-year-old man equipped his dog, Max, with a camera that takes pictures when his heart rate increases. The idea was to capture photos of what excites Max, turning him into an action dog photographer. But instead of cute animal shots, he got something a bit more disturbing.
In scenes reminiscent of the 1954 thriller Rear Window the OP may have inadvertently stumbled across something sinister.
u/gotitcat AITA for Attaching A Camera to My Dog That Invaded My Neighbor's Privacy? Jake (27M) here, and I've got a pretty bizarre situation going on. I recently got this cool gadget for my dog, Max, a lively 3-year-old Golden Retriever. It's a camera triggered by his heart rate, meant to capture what excites him. The idea was simple: the camera clicks a photo whenever his heart rate goes up. I expected cute pictures of squirrels, other dogs, and maybe his favorite toys. I was particularly keen to see all the photos of me when I came home!
When the OP got to look through the photos that Max took he was a little bit surprised. Yes, there were the sorts of photos he was expecting; barking at passers by, jumping for joy when the OP returned home etc but there were other images that appeared inadvertently that got the OP’s attention.
Amongst the many pictures were ones taken when Max was standing on his hind legs against the front gate. It provided a view of the street, and Max had captured photos of the mail carrier and others who walked along the sidewalk in front of the house. There were also quite a few of my neighbor, Sarah (I'm guessing she's 30-40W), who lives across the street. Sarah's friendly enough, always waving hello but keeps to herself. She lives alone as far as I'm aware and rarely has visitors. I have no idea what she does for a living, for we rarely speak. I couldn't understand why Max was so fixated on her. Day after day, more pictures of Sarah – in her yard, getting her mail, sometimes just sitting by her window. It was weird but harmless, or so I thought.
The OP knows he has inadvertently invaded Sarah’s privacy but justifies it as ‘harmless’ until the photos take a strange turn.
Last week, the tone of the photos changed. Sarah seemed agitated in the pictures, often looking over her shoulder or peering out her windows as if she was scared of something. One photo even caught her arguing with a mysterious figure at her front door. These photos made me worried for Sarah. I was sure something bad was going on. I was thinking how I'd hate to be the neighbour that stood by while a violent ex-BF or something assaulted her. But I wasn't sure.
When the OP saw evidence of injury he decided he had to act and called the police.
After a few days of procrastination, I spotted her with bruising on her face and that's when I knew I had to do something. I put in a call to my local police and explained how I was concerned that my neighbour was being beaten up by a BF or other man. They asked me why I thought so, and I told them about the camera and about Sarah's bruising.
A few days later, the OP got a call from the Police with an update.
I didn't see the Police go around, but I got a call from them after a few days. They told me that there was no need to worry about my neighbour or the injury (I was to find out later that she plays roller derby), but that they had serious concerns about the camera I had attached to the dog and told me I had to remove it or possibly face prosecution. Which I did. I know Sarah knows it was me who called the police by the way she gives me dirty looks now. I thought I was doing the right thing, but seems not. Am I really the AH?
Reddit readers were torn.
u/PervertedAcorn YTA. This was such a violation of privacy, even if it wasn't intentional. But calling the cops on her before talking to her makes it worse. I'd be apologizing to Sarah and shoving that camera up your dog's backside.
u/GoldenWhisperer790 You were concerned about your neighbor, which is natural. But the moment you knew your dog was taking photos of your neighbour you had to stop using the camera.
u/Leatherwardrobe22: You absolutely had to do something. Too many women are assaulted and murdered every year. If there was an ex stalking her you would have been the hero. 99/100 times what you did was right.
u/SnoopyDoDo: YTA. Even if it's accidental, spying on your neighbor is not cool.
Finally, the question on everybody’s lips
u/windsorknot78 WTF is roller derby?
