Stray dogs, what do you do?

United States
March 21, 2007 10:56am CST
What do you do when you see a stray dog in your neighborhood? I ask because we often have dogs wander down our street; some have owners, some don't. Just a little while ago I was getting in my truck to run some errands and there was this old beagle in my front yard. It was just wandering by slowly and didn't pay much attention to me. At first, I just ignored it, but when I got in my truck to drive away, it laid down in the ally by my house and I began to think, "What if it gets hit by a car? or attacked by another dog? How would I feel if he were my dog and no one helped him?" So I got out of the truck, went in and got some dog treats and lured him into the backyard. Then I called animal control, which was closed and the recording told me to call the police non-emergency number, which told me to call 911 (for a dog? okay....). So I did, and they are sending someone out to pick up the dog. But what do other people usually do? I have done this before for two other dogs in my neighborhood, but other times I have seen dogs and not called (and felt guilty)but I can see how many people would be too busy to just stop what they are doing and wait an hour for animal control.
2 people like this
4 responses
@JerzeBch (50)
• United States
23 Mar 07
I don't see many strays where I live... normally it's a neighbor's dog and we just call the neighbor, or yell "Snoopy! Go home!" Where I used to work, I would see strays every day... on the way to and from and near my work. Since it was in an industrial area or just a highly busy traffic area, I would wince as they crossed the street in front of a truck while calling animal control. I had the numbers for each county and city programmed in my cell phone and would call at least weekly. I could never just leave it be without worrying what would become of it. Most times, I would have to go about my day... but I would call later to check if the dog was picked up. 8 times out of 10 it was, thankfully. There weren't many that actually came onto our (work) property... but having the huge heart that I did... I would care for them. We ended up having 4 (stray) dogs in our shop at one point. They got along with each other before we decided to keep them... otherwise I don't know what I'd do. My baby that I have at home, was a stray who wandered near our work. It was 6pm on a Thursday night and this lil 10 lb strangly thing came around chasing our 75lb Shepherd. I tried calling Animal Control and the cops, but they didn't care... it was after hours. We gave him water and fed him from the coffee truck and hoped he would leave. We made calls to friends seeing if anyone could take him till the morning, but noone could. He was still there when we went to leave at 8pm, so we decided to take him home with us (telling ourselves it was just for the night). He sat perfectly in the car... behaved very well when he got home to our cats. We gave him a bath and brush him and cut the ropes of his neck. The next morning we called the pound and all that, noone had reported him. We left our information, left him home by himself and went to work. When we arrived home later... he was so thrilled to see us (and hadn't destroyed or messed in the house) so we decided we'd just keep him. That was over 12 years ago. :-)
1 person likes this
• United States
24 Mar 07
What a great, heartwarming story!
@blackbriar (9076)
• United States
21 Mar 07
In the 6yrs we lived here, I only seen one stray dog and a few stray cats. The dog wouldn't go to anyone so animal control was called out and took em a week to catch her. Stray cats tend to come and go, never to be seen again so don't know what happens to them unless the coyotes get them. I used to take in stray animals from time to time but now funds are limited and I no longer have an outside kennel to put them in while I find them homes.
1 person likes this
• United States
22 Mar 07
We have several cats in the neighborhood, too. I know some of them have homes, but some are living under the vacant house nextdoor. Cats are so much harder to catch, so it is harder to control stray cats. I'm thinking I will have to ask animal control to set traps for the ones next door before they have a litter and the stray population explodes.
• Ireland
21 Mar 07
We have three dogs of our own and I never like taking in strays as they might have some infectious desease and I wouldn't like mint to contact it. Whenever I see a stray dog, I will get one of my leashes and put it on the dog while I make enquiries as to who might own it. I go from door to door to see if I can find the owner. If this fails, I then take my own dogs into my house and then bring the stray into my back garden. I usually give it a feed and then I phone the animal shelter. If they cannot call within a reasonable amount of time, then I will take the dog to them. I don't like to see stray dogs either, as the poor unfortunate animals could be knocked down or could even be very hungry. I am always hoping that somebody will take them home from the animal shelters.
1 person likes this
• United States
21 Mar 07
Yes. I asked a few people who were outside if they knew who owned the dog, and no one did. Then I put him in the backyard and kept my dog inside. I gave him dog food and water and some treats (he really warmed up to me after that).Animal control just came by and got him a few minutes ago. He seemed pretty old, but I hope someone will adopt him.
• Netherlands
21 Mar 07
I normally let them go, but if they go in my garden i kick them out :) , not kicking, but just scare him away :)
1 person likes this