Cats
Woman douses 13-year-old boy with water for doing same to her cat and sparks debate
He never should have messed with the cat.
Ian Carey
04.01.21

Neither cats nor 13-year-old boys enjoy having water thrown on them.

Recently in England, a series of events played out where one of each ended up in just that situation. Naturally, the internet has been having a field day reacting to it.

Shannon Cooper posted her story to Twitter and to say it drew some passionate responses would be an understatement.

Lifehacker/Twitter
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Lifehacker/Twitter

“I don’t see the problem, don’t touch my cat.”

Shannon posted to Twitter the original version of the story. She mistook the age of her neighbor to be about 10 but it turns out they were 13 at the time.

So, as best as anyone can tell at this point, Shannon’s cat was sitting on a fence and the neighbor’s kid poured water on them.

In response, Shannon poured water on the neighbor’s kid.

Did Shannon overreact? Or react in the most appropriate manner possible?

Aarontheboos/Reddit
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Aarontheboos/Reddit

While many people were able to see the humor in this situation, evidently many others on social media did not. Some feel that Shannon should have discussed the incident with the kid’s parents.

Shannon was met with two choices after seeing the kid pour water on her cat: have an awkward conversation with a neighbor or simply pour water on a kid’s head.

Sometimes, the simplest answer is the best answer.

PaulaJaAnderson/Reddit
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PaulaJaAnderson/Reddit

“I mean as an adult it was wrong to do that to a child. The better response would have been to talk to the parent and speak about what was wrong from the child. I understand we love our pets, but that doesn’t justify doing wrong. Two wrongs don’t make a right,” wrote one person.

But just how wrong is it to pour water on a kid who has just poured water on a cat? Unless they are a Gremlin or the Wicked Witch of the West, it will likely not cause them any harm.

Tit for tat and fair’s fair, right? Maybe not when it comes to kids.

PopCatsCulture/Twitter
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PopCatsCulture/Twitter

The father is in an interesting position here.

All he knows at this point is that a neighbor has poured water on his kid. What happens next depends a bit on his impression of his own son.

If he feels his son likely did something to deserve getting water thrown on him, then his reaction would be more muted.

Evidently, this father assumed his son didn’t do anything to create the situation, at first, anyway.

Ariadne Massa/Twitter
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Ariadne Massa/Twitter

“people r so mad over this, the kid and his dad were laughing about it today, we r friends (also might I add the dad never knew what his son done which is why he was mad to begin with) also the kid is 13 he rlly looks fkn 10 lmao” Shannon said in a follow-up Tweet.

Mike Loseby/Twitter
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Mike Loseby/Twitter

It turns out, however, that the kid’s father didn’t know his son had poured water on the cat. He is friends with Shannon and they have laughed about the incident since.

“I’m not mad, I think you did the right thing!! The kid was cruel to this poor kitty & deserved to be taught a lesson!! It was only water it’s not going to kill the little brat & hopefully it was a learning lesson!!!” wrote someone supporting Shannon on Twitter.

Squeaky the Cat/Twitter
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Squeaky the Cat/Twitter

“You’re going to have to be very careful. I’m in no way excusing the boy’s behavior, but dumping water on him qualifies as assault,” wrote someone very sure of their opinion. “A better course of action might have been to tell the kid’s father what he’d done. The kid’s father would then be on your side.”

Even though Shannon and her neighbor have made up over this incident, people on Twitter still have very opinionated thoughts to share.

Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

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