Only if it is a “no kill” shelter. Otherwise, it could be a death sentence. If I were the dog, I’d choose to make my own way in the world over being caged and eventually killed, sometimes after as little as three days.
You were paying the dog off to not attack you.
I’d report the situation to an animal rescue. Or find another way to bicycle. It’s not really your problem.
If you keep feeding the dog the two of you will fall in love, bad breath, fleas and stinky farts. This issue will soon be mute!
I said you should find it a home, but taking it to a good shelter is a reasonable method of doing so.
You have a moral responsibility to help those less fortunate than yourself because you are an individual with the means to do so and the mind to comprehend both the dog’s plight and the possible solutions. It doesn’t matter that, in this case, the one less fortunate is a dog. What matters is your capacity for greatness, Skald.
St. Francis is the patron saint of animals. He saw nature as both a reflection of God and reflection of humanity. He famously preached to the birds. There’s also a legend about him taming a wolf that was harrassing a village due to hunger. He made the wolf promise to stop doing that if the village would feed him instead.
Aw. I want the doggie 
Overall we live in a society that in general benefits from not having feral dogs and cats rooming about, so I think you should feel some obligation to report it to the authorities and let them handle it be it animal control or a rescue organization. I don’t think feeding it or not feeding forces any moral obligation on you. Knowing it is a stray however does.
Moral issue aside, wouldn’t the easiest way to achieve this to call a shelter so they can take him away? You’d get some peace and extra hotdogs and he’d get a new home. What’s the downside?
^^ This is what I was going to say. Staying within the parameters of being totally selfish in my motivation, I would gladly and swiftly take the opportunity to make the stupid yappy-bitey dog go away completely if I could. Finding out he’s abandoned, I’d call animal control about it without a second thought.
I think you seem to feel some sense of responsibility now that you are aware of the situation. You went to the trouble of talking the neighbor to find out what’s what, after all, so something is bugging you about it. And now if the dog died horribly, you could have prevented that by handing it off to a responsible rescue organization, which is relatively straightforward.
I suppose that if we stick just the argument proposed, which is whether the food you provide makes you responsible for the animal. Slippery slope. In the absence of other care givers, if you are the only one providing anything resembling any “care”, I would suggest it would be morally correct for you to route the animal to a rescue group rather than allow him to starve or be diseased or fall prey to coyotes or owls or raccoons or ?? Of course, depending on the state, I might also call law enforcement on his owners for animal abandonment. But that’s me. “Born Free” rarely works out well for domesticated animals.
If you give food to a stray bitch, maybe her litter size will be larger.
If you give food to a stray male, maybe he will have more energy to impregnate more females.
And the problem becomes larger. More off springs. Without food.
Either adopt the animal, or find a home for it.
But just giving food, perpetuates the problem.
The dog’s annoying, not dangerous. Calling Animal Control is likely to get him put down.
A whole hot dog is a meal, not a scrap. Please endeavor to not bait-and-switch your faithful minions when doing so is not absolutely necessary. You will benefit from our enhanced effectiveness.
I’m curious to know if you’ve made any overtures in the direction of finding said mutt a good home. Spoken with any of the beneficiaries of your breakroom largesse. Surely you know SOME people in meatspace well enough to bring up the subject. Even Mrs. Rhymer might happen to have a friend who would fill the bill. Failing any of that, and keeping in mind harmonicamoon’s observations, it would probably be good to take in the AYD long enough to see to it that it has been rendered sterile.
What, no bad puns yet? :rolleyes:
The previous owners and the neighbor are both selfish, irresponsible scum. Be better than them.
.
Whether or not you feed the dog, you have a moral responsibility not to let it starve to death or get hit by a car. You have this responsibility not because you fed it, but because it is everyone’s moral duty to alleviate or prevent suffering when reasonably possible.
And it does not, IMO, matter if it is a no-kill shelter or not. In fact a shelter that euthanizes strays after a reasonable period is superior. It is a better use of resources to humanely kill animals if nobody wants them, instead of taking up space that could be used to house other adoptable animals instead of letting them die in the wild.
Call animal control.
Regards,
Shodan, Dog Owner and Veterinarian’s Son
Skald, you are a good man, and I have found your willingness to question your own behavior both illuminating and challenging. To answer your question simply - yes, you have a moral obligation to help this dog. Not because you’ve fed it scraps, but because you find yourself in circumstances where you have the opportunity and resources to do so, and in doing so, you will not harm yourself or others.
An act of charity or lovingkindess is not so because it is convenient or because it matches our personal preferences or because it is comfortable and easy. Acts that meet those criteria are easy, thoughtless, and arguably selfish, because we don’t do it out of conviction. We do it because it makes us feel good. Moral decisions should not be made on that basis.
Put yourself out there. Place yourself in a situation where you feel inconvenienced, uncomfortable, and maybe even threatened. You know the reasons why the dog should not be abandoned to its fate (suffering, disease transmission, increase in feral population, endangering people). You know the reasons why the dog will be better off in human care.
You can:
- call animal control and report AYD
- call an animal rescue group and report AYD
. . . . * and guide them to the site
. . . . * and help them collect AYD
. . . . * and give them a donation of cash to offset the cost of caring for AYD - collect AYD yourself and take it to an appropriate shelter/rescue group
. . . . * and give them a donation of cash to offset the cost of caring for AYD
. . . . * and do your best to find someone to adopt AYD
By the same logic, someone could argue that you are therefore morally obligated to build AYD a doggie mansion, hire former SWAT members to provide round-the-clock care and protection, and lobby the Vatican for eventual AYD sainthood, but you are the only person who can determine where to draw the line in your efforts, and that too is a moral obligation to yourself and the ones you care for.
Just remember, no act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.
Well said phouka
Alright Skald, I think you’re just being selfish here. Even though you can’t take that dog home and provide him with a family yourself you’re not finding a way to have him adopted or moved to a shelter because you’re going to miss him. People don’t just pack two hot dogs when they go to work. You’re going to the trouble of buying the hot dogs and packing them up, two hotdogs so you can feed him twice. And when he lifts his paw you feel it in your heart, and if you don’t feed him you know he’s furious because his heart is broken. You’re not fooling me for a minute, you love that dog.
I don’t believe that you are bound to do anything other than what you believe.
You had an unspoken agreement with the dog. You feed it and it doesn’t maul your ankles, or something.
If you believe in karma…well here’s a chance.
I took in a yorkie in about the same situation years back. Mean old lady in the neighborhood, ‘Get off my lawn’ in an apartment?, who had a yappy mutt. She ended up going to a home for whatever reason and the ‘mean’ yappy mutt was left tied to a post outside a window. Neighborhood kids were worried because it was constantly barking at them and it was all alone. Evidently I was the neighborhood dog whisperer. I took over some hot dogs and water and sat with the mutt for about half an hour. For the first 10 minutes or so sitting outside the leash area and ignoring it and ‘eating’ hot dogs. Once the dog calmed I threw it a chunk of hot dog until she was close enough to give it some water. Boom insta-dog love and I was her person. I brought her to the house and she became my protector from my rottie pup who was about 90 lbs at the time.
Took the dog to the vet and she was old and had crystals in her kidneys which meant special food. I contacted the local pet rescue and had the dog for about a week before arrangements could be made for a home for the mutt.
In that time the ‘evil ball of malice’ turned into my protector from all other animals and only grudgingly accepted the rottie and ended up playing with the kids in the neighborhood.
IMO you’ve done more than most other people would have done and grats on getting over your mutt-phobia. Do what you feel is right.
Right, and that’s where the moral culpability comes in. The longer you do it, the longer you at the very least need to keep doing it. Or, yes, picking any of the higher options in the hierarchy. You make the dog dependent on you, you need to either keep taking care of it or make it no longer dependent on you.
I don’t disagree with the other people about the obligations from knowing the dog is a stray. I’m just discussing how the feeding part can lead to a moral obligation.