This is something that has happened to me so many times. Many people do let their dogs run free even though it is against the law in many towns and cities. I live outside of town so when I encounter a stray dog I usually know someone has dumped it just like the many cats. If I find a dog inside of town that looks like it is in some sort of distress I will try to get it to come to me. If there are houses near by I ask if anyone knows of the dog. Sometimes they don't really know the owner but have an idea of where the dog lives. If no one can tell me anything and I feel the dog is in danger I take it to a friends house that is more equipped to deal with dogs than I am. We will contact the police and shelters, place ads in papers and put up posters, etc. Many times it is heartbreaking to have to return them to the owner as it is obvious that they are not getting the care they need. But most of the time we do get them spayed or neutered if they need it before a search is put out. It may sound shady but we have a low cost spay/neuter clinic here. Most times the owner doesn't care we had it done. They just never would have done it themselves. We always determine the condition of the animal before making decisions like that.
More than half the time no one calls for the animal and we have to find a home. Some of the harder cases (like the really big dogs) we have had to take to the shelter. We have a private no kill shelter that does the low cost spay/neuter clinic. There are a lot of fools out there breeding larger breeds also. I guess it is some sort of an ego trip for some. So many of them end up in shelters because the people do not know how to train the dog.
Several years ago I had a Honda Accord hatchback and came across a huge Great Dane! He was obviously in an area where he did not belong but he did have tags on his collar. I was kind of scared when I got up close to him but he turned out to be very friendly. The trouble was fitting him into the back of that little car! Even with the back seat put down he took up the whole area! He was such a good boy but I was kind of awe struck by his size. Found out later that the owner was notorious for letting the dog get away but I had to let him go home. I had found him more than 5 miles away from where he lived and he was on the other side of the river at that!
I say when in doubt think of the best interest of the animal first. If it does belong to someone then rescue it and try to find the owner later. The animals are not supposed to be running loose on the street anyway. What are they going to do? Accuse you of being a dog thief? They should be grateful that you wanted to help. |