Dog owner sent ‘next level creepy’ text by stranger who took number off pet’s collar

Most of us understand that putting contact details on a pet’s collar is not the same as a calling card.

However, this was apparently lost on one person who decided it would be appropriate to message a dog owner after encountering their pet in a park.

In their text – which was later shared on Reddit – the stranger admitted they’d taken the number from a tag on the animal’s collar.

“Thanks for letting me pet her,” they wrote. “We should hang out.”

The date invitation was, understandably, met by silence – the dog owner must have been horrified to see their privacy invaded in this way.

But the one-sided conversation continued, with the stranger sharing their fury at the snub.

“Hello?” they wrote aggressively. “Why do you even have your number on her collar if you don’t want people to text you? What the f***? Such a tease."

A Redditor shared a screenshot of the thread with the caption “is this a thing?”

u/AvocadoDemon/Reddit

It was met with horror by fellow users of the platform who, although the identities and genders of those involved were not made clear, assumed the stranger was a man and the dog owner was a woman.

“The insinuation that she’s like seeking attention by having the number on the dog’s collar is hilarious to me," one commented.

“I made this joke once with my [girlfriend], whose phone number is also on her dogs’ collars. I can’t believe that there are actually people with this mindset!” wrote another.

“[The] guy is very confused [about] what the number is for,” a third observed.

While a fourth stressed the insidious nature of the stranger’s behaviour: “WAIT GUYS ACTUALLY this is a huge deal,” they said.

“Some men will memorise your address and phone number and stalk you. If you’re getting bad vibes or they’re looking at your dog’s collar for a bit too long, you need to leave.”

Other users admitted to having had similar encounters.

“I had that happen to me in Austin. It was super creepy,” wrote one.

Another said: “I once posted a picture of my dog online and inadequately blurred the number. A person looked up a selfie I had posted and sent me a text message with a few too many eggplants. Humans are terrible.”

Meanwhile, other Redditors remarked simply that the stranger had acted like a “next level creep.”

I think we can all agree on that one.