A furry fiasco or a carefully plotted conspiracy to take over a new home?
John Paul Brammer, the managing editor for the Trevor Project, an organization dedicated to LGBTQ youth in crisis, was having a quiet Saturday afternoon when chaos came rapping at his door.
The 28-year-old tells HuffPost he was minding his own business when he heard something strange.
“I heard them knocking!” Brammer said. “Literally. Their paws were knocking up against my door.”
When he opened the door he found two friendly dogs and a cat, hellbent on having an adventure.
“The whole crew pulled up,” Brammer said.
Brammer found the whole situation so bizarre, he couldn’t help but tweet about it.
“We live in a shoddy building and our doors barely work,” Brammer explained. “So I’m guessing the dogs just unlocked their door on accident and got loose.”
Yet, despite Brammer’s best efforts to block the animals from getting into his apartment, the sly cat snuck inside amid the chaos.
The cat, which seemed quite pleased with itself, decided to make itself at home in its new digs.
While the cat made itself comfortable inside the apartment, Brammer discovered the apartment above his had a wide-open door. So, he corralled the two dogs inside and closed the door. But the rascals clearly had plans of their own.
And they were eager to show off their new trick. Over and over again.
Thanks to Brammer’s large Twitter following, by this point in his thread, many users were very invested in the animals’ shenanigans. But Brammer explained to HuffPost that he found the whole ordeal pretty stressful.
“I’m a huge animal lover and I respect animals a lot. Part of respecting animals sometimes, as I figured out growing up in the country where we had lots of wayward critters, is leaving them alone,” said Brammer, who was raised in rural Oklahoma. “The internet wanted me to just let them all in, but dogs are stronger than people think sometimes! I always ask for permission before petting other people’s animals. So I wanted to keep a comfortable distance to be safe. But they were so friendly and warm, I wanted to do right by them, even if I’m not a pet owner and didn’t really know how.”
He decided to keep an eye on the pets until he could get some help.
But because they weren’t his pets, he was still pretty anxious about the whole situation and even pleaded with the cat to lead its pack back to the safe haven of their home.
But Kitty wasn’t having it.
Brammer finally safely secured the two dogs, but it didn’t seem like the cat had any intentions of leaving its new home.
And then once everything seemed to have simmered down, the dogs got out again.
Brammer got them both into their apartment, but one got out. The other locked the door.
So, Brammer decided to look after the one dog that was still loose and brought it inside his apartment.
After so much excitement, the dog and cat in Brammer’s home decided to take a little nap.
Finally, neighbors who had some experience dealing with pets decided to help Brammer out, and he prepared to say goodbye to his guests.
But then things got wild again.
After all the commotion, however, Brammer and his accomplices finally secured the faulty door and got all three animals inside their apartment.
Relieved the pets were secure, Brammer decided to go get a bite to eat with a friend he had plans with and asked his roommate to take over doggy (and cat) duty.
When he returned, he learned that the pets’ owners were home and all was well.
Folks who followed the story on Twitter absolutely loved it.
Brammer told HuffPost that he never got the owners’ names or the names of their pets.
“I really wish I had asked, but I think my social anxiety took over in the final moments,” he admitted. “I met the neighbors and was sort of like, ‘OK, thank goodness, good night!’”
He’s also glad the debacle brought some joy to the internet.
“My guess is that everyone feels kind of down right now, especially on Twitter where the worst news is getting laserbeamed into your eyes 24/7,” Brammer said. “So if it made people feel a little happy for a while, I’m glad I could help them with that.”