While many thrifty DIYers will claim a little tape can fix anything, it definitely didn’t save one California resident’s family of chinchillas. In fact, Reddit user Realistic-Tell6119 blames the contractor who built their pets’ home for killing them. In a tragic story shared on r/legaladvice, the owner described paying over $5,000 to have a special shed built for their chinchillas, equipped with a temperature-controlled space and insulation. However, what seemed to be a quick fix for the A/C unit turned into a disaster.
It all began when Realistic-Tell noticed the top of the A/C unit cooling their chinchillas’ pen was blowing out hot air. The contractor didn’t take it too seriously; “he assured us it was fine and he just taped over it so the air would only blow out the tube,“ OP recalled. Skip ahead a few weeks, and the tape suddenly fell off, causing the heat inside the shed to jump from 60° to 100°. “We just woke up to all of them dead,” mourned Realistic-Tell.
Now, the owner seeks to pursue the contractor legally, accusing them of negligence. “I’m so devastated as all of this was so avoidable,” Realistic-Tell cried. The whole point of the shed was to keep their chinchillas safe and comfortable, but instead this $5,000+ project turned into a death trap for their pets, one of which was over 15 years old. Unfortunately, a good majority of Redditors in the comments aren’t certain whether OP could get much back from suing.
Reddit Doubts The Chinchilla Owner Will Get Much Out of Suing the Contractor
“Unless they were some expensive breed of chinchilla, you’d only receive a couple hundred in damages if you’re lucky,” wrote the post’s top commenter. The owner responded, saying that all the chinchillas were around $4K, but that’s not taking their ages or breeds into account, like the 15-year-old one. But the money isn’t what OP is after: “I care less about the money and more about making a point that what he did was negligent.”
Based on their remarks in the comments, Realistic-Tell is determined to figure out how to make sure justice is brought to the contractor for his alleged mistake. Sadly, nothing will bring back their babies, but they still hope to see some closure and compensation for what they suffered.
