Person spends 5 years bonding with client's pet bird, so when they see it being suddenly neglected, they impulsively rescue the bird, and it learns to fly again: 'I told my mother I had done something morally grey. She said it had been a rescue.'

Author image for Mariel Ruvinsky
Mariel Ruvinsky • Writer and Editor
Jul 15, 2026 8:15 AM EDT

At what point does "stealing" turn into "rescuing"?

In legal terms, stealing is always stealing. Of course. We know this. And yet, as people who love animals, we think that "stealing" some animals from people who should not have them is kind of justifiable. Not everyone should have pets. We think everyone can agree with that. So what do we do when someone who should not have pets ends up having them anyway? What do we do when we see an animal in need of help? Do we just let them stay there, or… do we do the morally gray thing that is stealing them from their neglectful owners? 

To us, the answer is pretty obvious, but we imagine that the people whose pets are stolen might disagree. Most of the time. Sometimes, as proven by Sunny_Pigeon on Reddit, these owners don't care at all. And considering the story of this bird, we're not surprised. It seems that, from the beginning, the only person who really cared about this bird was the person who ended up stealing it. The conditions that the bird was living in were terrible. The state of health that the bird was in was terrible too. 

No one seemed to care about this bird, and once it was gone - stolen, no one seemed to care either. The person who saved the bird did what they did worried about the consequences of their action. They felt, in their heart, that they did the right thing, but they still feared that it was a mistake. But when the person whose bird was stolen realized the bird was gone, they brushed it away and didn't look heartbroken about it for even one moment. Now, the bird is in a home where it's loved and cared for, and it has actually started flying again. 

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  • 01

    "[Am I wrong] for stealing my friend’s bird?"

    "I knew she would never consider rehoming, so I impulsively snatched the bird out of the cage"
    via Unsplash / Amal Rohit

    Picture of a parrot hanging from the side of a bird cage. 

    The cute parrot in the image is a model. 

  • 02
    For five years, I visited my client's house for non-bird related reasons and became friends with her daughter. In that time, the daughter bought her mother a parrot she couldn't take care of.
    via Sunny_Pigeon
  • 03
    I felt bad so I took care of the bird. I gave it fresh water and food and regularly cleaned the tiny cage. I even used my own money to thrift a bigger (although still too small, I knew nothing about birds) cage and gifted it to my client.
    via Sunny_Pigeon
  • 04
    Then the client relocated without the bird, leaving it with her daughter. I still visited the daughter occasionally and I noticed the bird was being neglected. Water bowl was almost empty and full of bird sh (I changed that on the spot).
    via Sunny_Pigeon
  • 05
    The tray on the bottom was so full of waste it was almost covering the grate. I gently scolded my friend and she sheepishly said she'd been busy but would get on it right away. I considered asking her about rehoming but I knew she never would because my friend has a pathological problem letting things (pets and objects) go.
    via Sunny_Pigeon
  • 06
    I came back two months later. The daughter had asked me to swing by anytime if I was in the area to cut her cat's nails (another thing I'd been doing for years). I went in with permission. No one was home.
    via Sunny_Pigeon
  • 07
    Things with the bird were worse. Cage hadn't been cleaned since I'd last done it five months ago. All the perches had fallen. Beak was so overgrown it touched its chest. Sludge water again.
    via Sunny_Pigeon
  • 08
    I impulsively snatched the bird out of the cage and took it home with me. I told my mother I had done something morally grey. She said it had been a rescue. I researched, bought it a big cage, trimmed its beak, and prepared fresh veggies daily.
    via Sunny_Pigeon
  • 09
    Coaxing it out of its shell took months but it eventually learned it could come out of the cage and to trust us. It had the funniest little personality, regained the strength to fly, and my mom fell in love despite a previous fear of birds.
    via Sunny_Pigeon
  • 10
    Friend texted me asking about the bird. I lied and said I'd never made it to her place. She thought the cats had gotten the cage open and the bird was eaten. I've never said otherwise and she has never seemed devastated by the loss.
    via Sunny_Pigeon
  • 11
    Legally I'm in the wrong of course but am I the ahle?
    via Sunny_Pigeon

  • There is actually a point where stealing turns into rescuing, and that point was very much crossed in this story. You didn't steal the bird. You saved its life. 

  • 12
    Cheezburger Image 10647538432
    via Unsplash / Karina Maslina - maslina_karina

    Beautiful white parrot inside a bird cage. 

    The snow-white bird is a model. 

  • 13
    Sydmeister 1369 NTA about the bird (good for you) but if she has other abused/neglected animals a call to animal protection services sounds very needed
    via Sydmeister1369
  • 14
    Sunny_Pigeon OP I considered this (the number of cats is, ahem, large. Not quite animal hoarding but close). But she's better with large animals? She feeds them and takes them to the vet. I think this might be a specific bias where, because an animal is small and inexpensive to buy, they're not cared for to the same level?
    via Sunny_Pigeon

  • We would try to keep an eye on this just in case. Maybe it really was a matter of her not wanting to deal with a bird, and maybe not. Hopefully, it's just the bird. 

  • 15
    Cheezburger Image 10647539200
    via Unsplash / Hatice Güven Yeşilyurt - haticeguvn

    Two colorful parrots sitting in a small cage.

    The two birds are represented by models. 

  • 16
    Sydmeister1369 Ech, are they all spayed and neutered? Do they have enough space to actually comfortably live? Does she let them outside to wreak havoc on the local bird population (hope not)? Do they have enough clean litter boxes to go around?
    via Sydmeister1369
  • 17
    Sunny_Pigeon OP Yes, they are spayed/neutered and also vaccinated. They have free roam of a multi story detached house, lots of toys and cat trees. They are strictly indoor cats. There are multiple litter boxes. Are the boxes always clean? No. Are there enough boxes? No. Is this ab e? Not in the legal sense.
    via Sunny_Pigeon
  • 18
    Cheezburger Image 10647542784
    via Unsplash / Angelo Damas Riout

    Colorful bird sitting in a bird cage. 

    The cute bird is represented by a model. 

  • 19
    cahliah If this is a parrot, it likely was not inexpensive to buy! My daughter wants one, and even the cheapest are hundreds - if not thousands of dollars
    via cahliah
  • 20
    Sunny_Pigeon OP This parrot was $30.
    via Sunny_Pigeon
  • 21
    AniCatGirl NTA. The bird got lucky that someone gave a f, because the original owners clearly didn't. They can be so delicate too. I would have probably done the same thing. Would probably be worth getting a vet visit if you haven't, just to check for any lingering health issues from the neglect. Definitely see an exotics specialist though, if you can.
    via AniCatGirl
  • 22
    Sunny_Pigeon OP I did take it to an exotic pet vet. Poor body condition but I did a good job with the beak trim. Might have chronic respiratory problems.
    via Sunny_Pigeon
  • 23
    canvasshoes2 Justified a h_le, which is, if I recall, an NTA vote. People who neglect pets forfeit their rights, imho.
    via canvasshoes2
  • 24
    AndNothingHurt52 Legal and moral are two different answers sometimes. Was this legal? No. Was it the right thing to do? Yes
    via AndNothingHurt52

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