How to Help Stray Dogs!
Dogs are known to be man’s best friend. Seeing one of them wandering on the streets must call for a raised eyebrow to understand why “man’s best friend” is found homeless.
Incidents of dogs going stray are becoming more frequent. As a pet owner or as an empathetic individual, it is important to try and lend a helping hand to our canine friends. They need us to be found and reunited with their families.
In this article, we’ll look at why dogs become stray, why they need our help, and how we can help them.
Why Do Dogs Become Stray
To start with, let’s try to understand why man’s best friend is found homeless. The following are a few reasons why dogs become stray:
Lost Dogs
The most common reason dogs are found stray is because they got lost and couldn’t find their way home. Most of them wander the streets, trying to trace familiar scents to find their way back home.
This can happen when a dog traces a familiar scent out of their owner’s environment, or if they follow a mate and can’t find their way back home.
As a responsible dog owner, you should ensure your dogs live in a controlled environment to prevent them from wandering off.
In addition, it is recommended that you use collars with your name and phone number inscribed, on your dog. So, if your canine friend goes missing, they can easily be reunited with you.
Abandoned Dogs
This is often common with families or pet owners who have never had a pet before. This is because, with the excitement of getting a pet, they rush to get a pup. People often rush to get their new pet without first learning the details of the responsibility and financial commitment that comes with being a pet owner.
After getting a pup, it can feel impossible to keep up with those responsibilities for those who didn’t take the time to learn about pet ownership ahead of time, and some may decide to let their pet go. Although always unfortunate, sometimes unforeseen issues can arise and relinquishment is necessary. And when done humanely and legally, it can be okay for the dogs.
However, the issue here is that some decide to abandon the pet by driving it to a remote location far from their residence. Then, they drop them off and abandon them. The dog will be scared and confused and won’t be able to find their way home, so they start wandering and become a stray dog.
Some Dogs Are Born Stray
A stray mother will give birth to a stray pup. Many strays are intact and will mate with each other. On average, a female dog has a litter size of about 6-7 per birth. And female dogs can be in heat twice a year. That’s an average of 12-14 puppies per year.
While most puppies die because of harsh environmental conditions, those that manage to survive are naturally stray.
Why Do We Need to Help Stray Dogs
Save Their Life
A stray dog, either abandoned, born stray, or lost, needs your help. One of the most evident traits of a stray dog is malnourishment. If you meet a dog that has been stray since birth, you may be able to count out its rib bones.
A stray dog is always subject to infections due to where its lived or what its eaten. These infections can be dangerous to their health or even fatal if left untreated.
They need our help to get proper care and either return to their environment or enter the rescue system to try and find a home. And if it isn’t possible to pay for their care, getting them to a vet or handing them off to animal control would be helpful.
Reduces Risk of Rabies Infection
Stray dogs, especially those who are stray from birth, are dangerous. This is because they’ve not received any treatment for rabies or other vital vaccinations. The rabies virus can make a stray dog aggressive and more likely to attack and bite whoever they see.
Helping stray dogs will reduce the risk of these dogs spreading rabies to humans. Rabies is a dangerous virus that can affect humans as well.
Reduces Road Accidents
Stray dogs can be found anywhere at any time. Sometimes they may run onto the highway and cause accidents.
Stray dogs on roadways can be dangerous for the dogs and the drivers. While trying to avoid a stray dog, a vehicle collision might occur. And in some cases, the dog gets hit by a vehicle. So, it’s best to help a stray dog whenever you find one.
How to Help Stray Dogs
After considering the why and the needs, now, let’s see how you can help a stray dog.
Approach With Care
If you find a stray dog, there is a high chance it is scared. And, as a stranger, the dog might attack in defense or run away if you try to approach it. So, it’s important to approach with care. How do you do this?
- Always make sure you are within its line of sight.
- Do not leave your car or approach it until you are sure it is not aggressive.
- If you are on the road, redirect other vehicles to prevent accidents.
- Make gestures to show the dog you are not a threat by stretching out your hands, squatting down, and talking calmly.
- Use a strong-smelling dog food such as dried liver or canned tuna to entice the dog to come toward you.
Donate to Shelters
One of the ways you can help a stray dog is by donating to animal shelters. Most animal shelters are constantly faced with financial constraints.
Let’s give an example of some of these limitations. If you take a badly injured dog to an animal shelter for treatments, the shelter might be unable to treat the dog and provide for its other expenses. Why?
Surgery and treatment are expensive, and there’s only very little financial ability for the shelters to help. They may have to euthanize the dog to relieve its pain and suffering.
So, you can be a huge help stray dogs by donating to shelters, so the dogs can receive adequate treatment when taken to the shelter.
Volunteer
Yes, helping a stray dog can be quite a demanding task. Most people will prefer to avoid the stray dog, minding their business. But if you want to help a stray dog, you need to volunteer yourself for this task.
The stray dog is probably scared and very unstable. It would be best if you found a way to approach it and make it trust you. Then it would help if you got the dog to a vet for proper treatment. You might need to pay for its treatment as well.
All these can be stressful, especially for a strange dog. So, helping a stray dog requires a volunteer ready to save the canine without expecting a reward.
Foster Dogs
This is also a great option if you want to help stray dogs. The first thing to do after caring for a stray dog is to help it find its previous home and get it reunited with its owner if it has one.
However, if you are unable to find and reunite the dog with its owner, you can help the dog by getting it a new home, or you can keep it as your pet for proper care. But, if you’re doing this, it is important to reach out to animal control and take all legal steps to acquire this dog to your home or as a foster home.
Visit a Veterinarian
If you find an injured stray dog, you can take the dog to a veterinary hospital for treatment. However, you should know that dog treatment is not cheap. So it would help if you were willing to assume the required financial responsibility for its treatment.
Conclusion
It is impossible to curb the incidence of stray dogs. Stray dogs need our help. They are lost, scared, and in danger. If you find one, you can always reach out a helping hand. That’s one less stray pup.