... to have brought a ball home from the park?

[MeetLoaf]

On Tuesday there was football on some side grass in my local park (not the main ball-playing grass bit). It looked beaten up and old and manky.

It was in the same place on Tuesday.

Yesterday when I went into the park I noticed it was still around but in a different place but still not on the main playing bit.

As I was walking around the park I noticed another dog owner kicking it around a bit for their incredibly uninterested dog. They did this for a bit then left the park without the ball, leaving the ball at the side of a path.

I went over to the ball and nudged it slightly with my foot which sent my dog completely bananas. She's never shown any interest in footballs before but this ball sent her absolutely zoomies.

So I brought the ball home with me for her to play in the back garden with it. My reasoning is that the ball is quite clearly abandoned having been in the park for several days in the rain and looking pretty beaten up. Moreover the park care-takers come on Fridays and will likely have just dumped the ball anyway. So, in my mind it wasn't unreasonable to bring it home.

But DP said I'm very unreasonable for "stealing" said football.

So....

YANBU. Balls get adopted all the time. You've given it a loving new home, be proud of yourself.

Seriously though, I've lost count of the amount of abandoned balls my kids have rescued, and likewise if they leave a ball lying behind their bums it will also have been rescued by others. Would be different if you seen someone literally just leave it, and you have robbed them of an opportunity to return for it, but that's not the situation you are describing at all. Its fine, your DP needs to get a grip.

My dog has come back with all sorts on walks, including a football (which very quickly became a punctured football). If anyone actually cared about it, they wouldn't have abandoned it in a park for days.

YANBU - it would only have been thrown away.
A few weeks back a football mysteriously arrived in my garden - my dog was over the moon - he thought the football fairy had been ! Unfortunately it turned out to belong to the visiting grandson of my neighbours, so I had to give it back. (I have since bought my dog a football which he has turned his nose up at )

YANBU

Really glad you're all agreeing with me.

I did suggest to DP that he could put a "Found" appeal on the local FB page for the football but he wasn't keen.

The irony is that my dog hasn't been particularly bothered about the new ball since I brought it home. Maybe it was the thrill of illicit park ball. Now it's her's she's not that interested. Little bugger.

Your husband has quite a flair for the dramatics doesn't he lol

Definitely NBU! I collect random balls all the time for my dog when we see them with no one about! We lose loads anyway so it's almost like 'borrowing a ball' as it'll get lost again soon for someone else to find!