AITA for wanting to keep a puppy after the owner left her with us and never came back?

Just a quick disclaimer: this story involves possible animal neglect, abandonment, and a really difficult moral situation.

I never thought taking care of someone else’s puppy for two weeks would turn into me questioning whether I’m basically stealing a dog.

A friend of my tenant asked my father if we could puppy-sit her 5-month-old pit bull while she found housing and got the dog registered as a therapy dog. She said it would only be for two weeks. My father agreed, as long as she covered food and any damage the puppy caused.

Right away, the whole thing felt off.

We didn’t even know this girl personally. She didn’t give us her phone number, so at first we could only reach her through my tenant. She also didn’t even tell us the puppy’s name until the end of the first week. And when the dog arrived, she was in terrible condition. She was filthy, covered in ticks and fleas, and looked like she hadn’t been properly cared for at all. The owner claimed she had bathed her two days earlier, but honestly, from my point of view, that was hard to believe.

Then I found out the puppy hadn’t had any shots and had never even been to a vet.

A couple weeks went by, and the owner barely existed. The only time she directly contacted us was at 2 in the morning to say she had a dream that we were hurting the puppy. That was it. No real check-in, no plan to pick her up, nothing useful. Around that same time, the puppy chewed through one of our doors, so we messaged her once we finally had her number and told her about the damage and asked for M*ney for the dog food.

No response.

Then I started hearing more things about her. Apparently she had a reputation for neglecting animals, had other dogs removed before, and was broke because she spent her extra M*ney on Dr*gs instead of basic necessities. I can’t personally verify every detail I was told, so I don’t want to act like all of it is proven fact. But I do know she never stepped up for this puppy, and that part I saw with my own eyes.

Now it’s January 1st, and we got this puppy back in September.

So what was supposed to be two weeks turned into months.

During that time, I ended up taking the puppy to the vet myself because she developed a small ear infection. While I was there, I also got her rabies shot because I live in a wooded area and I have other dogs, and I wasn’t willing to risk that. I got her standard puppy vaccinations too. She still isn’t registered, and at this point I’ve also looked into getting her spayed.

Somewhere along the way, she stopped feeling like someone else’s dog.

My father likes her. My other puppy has bonded with her. I’ve taken responsibility for her care, her health, and her safety. And honestly, I do not want to see her sent back to a bad situation. My dad even refuses to let me post photos of her online because he’s worried the owner might see them and suddenly decide she wants the dog back.

That’s what has me so conflicted.

Because on one hand, if I just keep her and never reach out, I know how that sounds. It sounds like I’m taking someone else’s dog and deciding I know better. And the pet owner part of me feels horrible about that idea. If someone did that to me, I’d be devastated.

But on the other hand, from my point of view, this girl effectively disappeared. She left a puppy with us in poor condition, never paid for food or damage, barely contacted us, didn’t take care of basic vet care, and let two weeks turn into months without acting like a real owner. At what point does this stop being temporary care and start looking like abandonment?

That’s the question I keep asking myself.

Looking back, I don’t think my real fear is whether I love this dog enough to keep her. I already know I do. My fear is whether doing what feels right for the puppy makes me the bad person in the story. Because if the owner came back tomorrow and demanded her, I honestly think I’d want to fight to keep her somewhere safe.

So now I’m left wondering whether I’d be heartless for not contacting her again… or whether I’m the only one who has actually acted like this puppy matters.