AITA? Suing my neighbor after she sprayed weedicide on my lawn

A Reddit user shares a distressing story about their neighbor trespassing and spraying weedicide in their fenced backyard without permission. The neighbor claimed she was tired of the weeds and thought she was doing the Redditor a favor.

Unfortunately, this action resulted in the tragic death of two pet rabbits and left another critically ill. The weedicide made the lawn unsafe for all the Redditor’s pets, including dogs, cats, and a tortoise, which used to roam the yard freely.

Now, the Redditor is suing the neighbor for property damage, veterinary bills, and emotional distress, while also pushing for criminal charges. However, family members believe the Redditor is overreacting. Read the full story below.

‘ AITA? Suing my neighbor after she sprayed weedicide on my lawn’

Caught my neighbor spraying weedicide on my lawn (in my fenced in backyard) because she said “she was sick of all the weeds” and thought she was doing me a solid. 1. I like dandelions they are good for the bees

2. I have pet rabbits, dogs, cats, and a tortoise i like to roam the yard and all of them eat or at least nibble and lick the grass so it’s literally poisoning my pets. So anyway, I kick her the f**k out and take all my pets inside.

Now 2 of my rabbits are dead and another is in critical condition. I’ll never be able to let my pets outside again to eat the grass because weedicide takes forever to go away because it can sit in the soil for who knows how long and Im worried that the dogs and cats might end up having a reaction too since they also nibble the grass (call me overprotective or over cautious IDC I love my animals)

So I’m suing her for: damage to my property because it is now unusable for my animals, veterinary bills, and emotional damage due to the deaths of my two rabbits. I’m also trying to get the cops to pursue a case of animal abuse or at minimum criminal damage because she did basically poison my animals but I doubt anything will come from it because I have to prove ill-intent but they are pursuing her for criminal trespass.

She’s a Karen. I think she deserves it for thinking she had any right to be on my property at all; and especially because it’s killed my pets and now Idk what to do about my lawn because I’m not risking another animal’s life by letting them out (at least unsupervised for at least a year.

However my parents and my girlfriend think I’m being unnecessarily cruel because it “was an accident and she thought she was just being a good neighbor, and that Im making it to be a bigger deal than it is” and should just ask for her to pay my vet bills

Edit: info, she has asked me about the weeds before I don’t remember it verbatim but Basically the conversation was along the lines of

Her: “hey I see you have a lot of dandelions/ weeds have you noticed that too”

Me: “yup i enjoy the look of a natural lawn”

Her: “Something about my new car.”. The end

Since she has a kid that she always asks can come over to play with my rabbits I assumed she knew they ate them if she was looking over my fence that often she’d notice the dandelions were only ever flowering in 1/4 of the lawn at a time because my rabbits got cycled in a way that most of the lawn was mostly weed free while the part they couldn’t get to that week would be sprouting

Edit again: thanks for the messages guys. Im taking the advise and getting a security camera and a padlock for the fence; also i am in fact getting a necropsy done. Edit edit edit: i have talked to her. Told her that my rabbits died after the fact and there was staining on their pen. She said “it’s weedicide not pesticide; they were probably just sick”

Edit edit edit (last edit this is blowing up too much I gotta walk away sorry if i didn’t answer your question) but my rabbits were actually outside when she did this and there was a stain on their pen. I can’t prove it but Im pretty sure they got a direct spray.

UPDATE: I got a call from my vet monday morning the necropsy is back my rabbits died from corrosion to several internal organs and had corrosive burns lining their mouth and nose.

My 3rd rabbit can also come home today and only has minor injuries to his throat and a small injury resulting in superficial hair loss and mild irritation on his nose. He’ll be on pain meds and just in case I have critical care ready

For those without rabbits when rabbits are in pain and sometimes in mourning they sometimes refuse to eat so critical care is basically a mix powder you can syringe feed to keep their digestive system functioning because GI stasis can be life threatening.

Also I’ve contacted a lawyer to move forward with a lawsuit, but they haven’t responded, probably won’t until later today because i contacted them yesterday through email.

And for the lawn and garden people from my last post the vet thinks the stuff the neighbor used wasn’t a commercial herbicide because of those chemical burns as well as because it killed my crabapple tree and the bit near my fence and pool are bare.

Please in the future; avoid messaging me for updates I have no reason to keep you guys updated for any reason; my life and my animals at the end of the day is my business not yours. I will try to keep you updated but remember this is my LIFE.

Getting a message every day asking for an update IS RUDE. Also definitely NEVER EVER comment on another one of posts asking for updates or for information that’s just beyond rude STOP IT. Im allowed to make other posts without being reminded of this; you’ll get updates as they come and as I please not as you demand. Thank you.

Here’s what Redditors had to say:

[Reddit User] −  NTA. Even without all of your reasoning it’s illegal for her to do that. Period. I’m sorry that it did in fact result in damages. Hopefully you will get compensated for it. Good luck. You’re totally justified in suing her.

C0pper-an0de −  NTA. My neighbor did this last year and got reported to the HOA because the yard she sprayed (under the cover of darkness, so she knew it was wrong) belongs to a family with very young children. I’m sorry about your rabbits and you need to know that it’s not your fault and you are a good owner.

bamboozledvet −  NTA, don’t trespass, don’t mess with peoples property, if you want to do something “nice” ask permission. Idk if removing your toplayer and putting turf down would make it safe for pets again but if so she should pay for that

Rivka333 −  NTA. “was an accident and she thought she was just being a good neighbor. Spraying substances on *other people’s* property without their permission is not being a “good neighbor” by **any** stretch of reason.. I’m so sorry about your rabbits.

7thReddit −  NTA. So sorry for your loss! Losing a family member should be enough to convince any human with a heart to support you!

WineAndDogs2020 −  Omg, NTA! I am so sorry for your losses! I would be out for blood.

xanif −  NTA at all. She killed your pets. Take her to the cleaners.

Evilnear −  NTA she should have asked you first and talked to you about it. Loosing pets is bad rnough, knowing someone directly caused their death is worse. She also traspassed on your property. By a long shot NTA you need to add trespassing and gather all the proof you can. Not to mention vet bills are expensive as f. I hope you can sue her.

[Reddit User] −  NTA also consider posting this to r/legaladvice they might be able to give you more insight. I’m sorry for your losses. That’s just awful.

nnothmann −  NTA, her breaking into your lawn was not an accident. even if she could have never anticipated the results, she’s still liable for the results of her own bad choices, particularly when they’re so harmful. i’m really sorry to hear about your rabbits — i know it won’t make up for anything, but i hope you can get all the damages you’re suing for.

Do you think the Redditor is justified in suing the neighbor for her reckless actions, or should they have handled the situation differently? Have you ever experienced a neighbor crossing boundaries like this? Share your thoughts below!