If you found out your dog had been tattooed by its previous owners, you’d probably be pissed off and want to do something to make yourself (and your pooch) feel better.
What you probably wouldn’t do would be get that same tattoo inked on your body. Or maybe you would, who am I to make that judgement?
Apparently it’s not as uncommon as I first thought because one guy did exactly that, getting the tattoo and proving that man really is a dog’s best friend.
Except the tattoo didn’t turn out to be an act of cruelty from the dog’s previous owners as the guy thought and was, in fact, a symbol used by vets to show that a dog has been neutered. Yikes.
Making the situation even more awkward was the fact the guy didn’t realise the error of his ways until he posted a picture of his new tatt to social media, and all his mates pointed it out.
Posting to Facebook, the guy said:
For those of you who know Bear know that he has a tattoo given to him from some previous owners. It sickens me to know that people actually tattoo their pets. So tonight, I got his tattoo.
Immediately, his friends began commenting to put him straight, informing him of his embarrassing misjudgement. While one person asked ‘are you neutered too?’, another simply said ‘guess you’re neutered’.
Another person, not wanting to take the mickey, said:
That means he’s neutered! My rescue female has one, too!! Makes a cool story though!!
The post, unsurprisingly, went viral fairly quickly – even more so when it got shared on Reddit by a former classmate. But while everyone took the piss out of the guy, he says he had his reasons for doing what he did.
Speaking to Buzzfeed, the dog owner – Chris Mendiola – says he knew exactly what the tattoo meant when he got it, and he has no regrets.
He said:
We talked to our vet about the tattoo. I knew what it meant. They can believe and say what they want, but the tattoo is not for them, it’s for me.
Mendiola says his tattoo is a sign of love for Bear, who he calls his best friend.
Which, you know, is pretty darn cute and who’s to judge what anyone does with their body anyway.
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A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).