A Dog, A Pee Pad, And A Mall Hallway — How One Pup’s Bathroom Break Launched A Full-Blown Internet Argument
Reddit user u/No-Song-4931 says they were casually walking through an indoor shopping mall when they spotted something that stopped them in their tracks. A woman had placed a pee pad on the floor of the main hallway for her dog, right out in the open.
Completely stunned, the Redditor asked if she was serious. The woman smiled back and confidently said yes, as if this were totally normal mall behavior.
That’s when the OP told her it was disgusting. In response, the woman waved the unused pee pad around and insisted it was fine because it hadn’t been used yet.
The OP didn’t budge and doubled down, repeating that it was still gross. A public mall hallway, after all, isn’t exactly the place people expect to dodge pet bathroom setups.
To be clear, the Redditor says they actually own a small dog who is pee pad trained. They fully understand how pee pads work and why people use them.
But there’s a big difference, in their opinion, between using one at home and laying one out in public. The OP says they would never bring their dog into a mall, grocery store, or restaurant in the first place.
They felt the situation crossed a basic cleanliness line, especially in a shared indoor space with heavy foot traffic. Other shoppers didn’t sign up for navigating around a dog’s bathroom break.
After the encounter, the OP took to Reddit to see if they were overreacting. They asked whether they were the jerks or if the woman with the dog was out of line.
Now the debate is split between pet-friendly flexibility and basic public hygiene. And as usual, the internet has a lot of very strong opinions about where that line should be drawn.
A woman had placed a pee pad on the floor of the main hallway for her dog, right out in the open.
Here’s the original post by Reddit user u/No-Song-4931.
I was walking through the (indoor) mall when I saw a woman putting a pee pad down for her dog right in the main hallway. I asked if she was serious and she smiled and said yes. I said that’s disgusting and she started waving around the unused (yet) pad saying it’s fine. I insisted, no, it’s disgusting.
For the record, I have a small dog that’s pee pad trained only, so I understand the function of the pads. I would also never bring my dog inside a mall, grocery store, restaurant…
AITA? Or is she? I’m just wondering where the majority stands on this.
Let’s see how the Reddit community reacted.
That’s gross!
Dogs should be going potty outside.
NTA.
Duh!
People are so tone deaf.
NTA.
These people need to be shamed.
Weird and gross.
Why was the dog in the mall?
Even service animals are trained to go outside.
It’s not that hard.
Ewwwwww!
In the end, the Redditor says the whole moment left them questioning where common courtesy ends and pet parenting begins. And judging by the flood of opinions online, this is one mall moment people are definitely not done arguing about.
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