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The original was posted on /r/amitheasshole by /u/rinx221 on 2024-01-23 16:16:35+00:00.
My uncle does odd jobs around farms to make some money, and I'm a zoology student who needs some experience to start applying for vet/zoo internships in a year or two, so he agreed to take me along to help shear some alpacas.
When we got in the barn there were around 60-70 alpacas in there. I noticed they all had a tight tubular "mask" on over their nose and mouth, like a thick sock. It looked pretty uncomfortable for them.
My uncle explained that the owners had put "spit masks" / "spit socks" on all the alpacas before our arrival and it was a common thing, and something he requested all clients to do before an alpaca shearing.
The goal is to deter them from spitting (since the spit will backfire) and to make sure you don't get spit on.
Well, I didn't think that was a very good justification for something like that. It looked stifling and uncomfortable for them, and the only benefit is avoiding spit?
During a break I checked on my phone and it said the only big problem with alpaca spit is that it can stink, it's not like it's harmful or anything. And they seemed well-behaved anyways. I was willing to risk a bit of spit to make the alpacas more comfortable.
So while my uncle was shearing, I removed the spit-mask from a couple of alpacas without him noticing. When he noticed, he got really angry and said "put those back on, what are you doing, do you want to be spit on?"
I said I wasn't too worried about it and I wanted what was best for the alpacas. He said "you have no clue what you're talking about, put them back on now."
I didn't see what the big deal was and said if anything it'd be me that got spat on from it, not him. He said "I'm the one who has to drive you home, do you have any idea what that will be like if it spits on you?"
I didn't do it again but I feel like he was overreacting and it was sort of contentious the rest of the time. We didn't talk much on the ride home and I get the feeling he won't be inviting me to further farm days.
It feels petty to me for him to be so worked up about me risking getting spit on (probably not even him) as if I couldn't clean up before driving home, I don't see what the big deal is. AITA?
tl;dr removed "spit mask" from alpacas while shearing since they seemed uncomfortable for the alpacas. Uncle got mad that I risked being spat upon.