A dedicated dog owner was left "devastated" after her beloved dog, Zeus, went missing while her sister was taking care of him.
At the time, her sister claimed that the sweet-natured malamute had run out of her front door after her husband went out to fetch the mail and that they'd been unable to find him.
However, it soon emerged that there was more to the story than initially met the eye.
Her 28-year-old sister, who is a mother-of-two, had long admired beautiful Zeus, who is said to be "well behaved, fluffy, and the sweetest boy ever", even making jokes about kidnapping him for herself.
Little did she know that there was actual truth to her jests.
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Taking to Reddit, the animal lover recalled those painful few weeks where she had no idea where her dog was, or even whether or not he was okay.
She wrote: "I was devastated, this hurt me. I live alone and my only company was my dog, hence why I would leave him at my sisters to watch him in casework made me put in more hours. I put up posters, and those three weeks were the hardest, I couldn't eat or sleep properly because I just missed my good boy".
However, three weeks after Zeus's disappearance, at around 1pm, the woman - who goes by the username u/SoggyDogWady received a phone call from an elderly lady who claimed to have seen a couple and their children taking a dog matching his description into their home.
The woman said she'd seen the family out with the malamute "for a few weeks" at that point, which struck her as "odd".
She continued: "I asked her to describe the house and she gladly did having been neighbours with them. It was my sister's house. And I went ballistic on her for this, I was infuriated that she'd had done this; to me. Her own sister? What made it worse is that when I got my dog back his fur was dyed. This added more to my rage and things escalated quickly".
After having it out with her sister, the woman left with Zeus in tow. However - in a strange twist - her entire family believe that she's the one at fault.
Her sister has also managed to convince her children that their aunt is "the bad guy" for taking away 'their' dog.
She said: "All this is starting to get to me, I think I reacted badly and could have dealt with it in a more civilized manner, I've tried to apologize but she won't take it unless I give her Zeus back, My dog".
One Reddit user urged her to ensure that "any family member who agrees with the thieving sister is kept far away from the dog", while another urged her to file a police report.
A third baffled commenter couldn't believe how "stupid" her sister believed her to be, asking: "Was her plan to never have you at her house again?"
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