1) I accepted the AH tag, but also the fact that people have been a little over the top on what is a relatively light topic.

Stop acting like it's a light topic to justify how much of an asshole you're being. You're being super annoying. You don't have to be abusing animals to ruin people's day and be an asshole.

2) I’ve accepted the AH tag and asked for advice on how to adjust moving forward in other comments.

Lol sure.

I just found it refreshing that someone else was able to step back and say, “hey, this is… a lot, given the circumstances.”

....You're in a subreddit where people judge you on your actions. You're surprised when they judge you negatively?