What to Do with a Stray Dog

Have you ever come across a stray or abandoned dog and were just not sure what to do with the animal? It seems like today that for every good deed, a bad deed is also done. Many of you are confused, however stay with me and you will understand. For instance, when you find a stray dog, one automatically thinks to call animal rescue such as Animals Control which is sponsored by the city, right? Well, by calling the animal control authorities, you are getting a dog off the street however you are also sending the dog to Animal Control. Many Animal Control units have very limited amounts of space, therefore after a few days they will euthanize the dog if no microchip or tattoo is available. Therefore, you are doing a good deed by calling for help with the animal and doing a bad deed by calling Animal Control. It is a catch 22! So, what should one do in this situation?

In my opinion, I think the best thing to do is (if the dog is not wild) to help the animal yourself. It is important to take extreme care when dealing with an abandoned dog. Let's face it, most dogs on the streets are from families that have just abandoned them because they did not want the dog anymore. It is sad but very true. Therefore, the dog may be scared of you at first. What we do to capture a dog is talk to it soothingly and give it food. Then, we place the dog in a separate kennel from the one that we use for our own pets. It is important never to let your own pets get in contact with this stray dog. The history of this dog is unknown; therefore it is better to not take any chances. The stray dog may have rabies, flees, fighting instincts towards other dogs and so on.

So, once we have the dog in the kennel, we take it to the vets for more information about its health. If we capture the stray dog after our veterinarian has already closed, we place the kenneled dog in our basement with a small amount of food and water. Try to only give a small amount of food since the dog may not have had food in its stomach for a few days. By feeding too much, the dog will overeat and get sick causing a major cleanup for you in the morning. Then, after the vet has opened, proceed in taking the dog in for its first visit.