I hate this situation. I live in a neighborhood with lots of new homes under construction. Hence, there are lots of leftover food items left by construction workers. A stray/lost dog has been making the partially constructed houses it’s home over the last month. This isn’t a particularly huge issue with me.
However, the dog has now taken to the homes near mine. Combine that with my dog that is pretty territorial and a good watch dog and I am losing a good bit of sleep as my dog goes from window to window tracking the nocturnal habits of the stray.
About the stray: He looks like a pit bull/boxer mixed breed. Relatively large, but that’s not a big deal to me. He seemed in good shape up until a few days ago. Me must have stepped on a nail or something because he now avoids using his left rear paw about 2/3 of his steps. He also has a collar. Unfortunately, despite my best efforts, I can’t get close enough to see if the collar has owner info so I can’t figure out if he is a stray left on his own by a bad owner or a lost dog missing from a good family.
I’d love to at least figure that part out soon, because I already know what my next step will have to be. This dog scavenges for fod because he has no home. At some point he will be hungry enough to become a bad nuisance and possibly endanger people or pets. If he has no contact info, when I call animal control, it is a likely death sentence because I can’t imagine a family rescuing him. He doesn’t fit the cute, cuddly puppy look that tends to result in adoption. But, I also don’t want him to starve to death, wander aimlessly, or end up hit by a car.
Essentially, my choices suck unless his collar has a tag that provides help. Crap crap crap.
Well, you can either call now while he’s still in pretty decent shape and may be cured quickly and easily and have a good shot at adoption, or let him go around in pain until he’s a total mess and has zero chance of adoption.
Adult dogs, especially cute, friendly, housetrained ones, often do get adopted. If whatever’s wrong with him can be fixed relatively cheaply, they’ll probably at least try. If you let him go till he’s a bag of bones with something that’s gonna be pricey to fix, his chances go way, way down.
And if they do put him down, he’ll at least go quickly and painlessly, which is better than him hurting and going hungry and being exposed to the elements.
We have a slightly similar situation at home. We live on horse property in the rural fringes outside a suburban area in the desert and frequently get random dogs wandering the property. Usually, they’re neighbor dogs and will go home, but recently we’ve become the new family for a year-old (approx.) Rhodesian Ridgeback who, for all intents and purposes, appears to have been “dumped” on us by his owner(s). He’s very friendly and fairly gentle for a young male dog, but he’s HUGE! And appears to miss his “family” who dumped him, as he keeps watching down the drive to the dirt road and gets excited everytime a vehicle passes (which isn’t all that frequent). People can be such jerks when it comes to “disposable” pets.
We’ve placed Found ads, posted signs all over the area, posted on the petfinders website, even contacted Animal Control - all to no avail (AC says that they’ll take him away, but that he’ll most likely be put down, since there are no tags to verify he’s had his shots or that he’s not dangerous) and he’s most likely going to become a permanent member of the family. Our cats are most displeased by this - they’ll get over it.
I agree with calling animal control or the cops ASAP. The sooner he’s in “custody,” the better his chances of being either adopted or at least not suffering any longer than necessary. The longer he’s on the street, the worse off he’ll be, particulary since he’s injured. Poor puppers.
Well, even if he has owners listed on the tags, animal control is the way to go. Give them a call and he can at least get his foot looked at. Best case, he gets a loving new family and doesn’t have to be alone in the world. Worst case, he dies cleanly instead of from a festering wound with no one to take care of him or love him.
Did you try calling local radio stations or anything to let people know that the dog is missing and this is where he is? Someone may be looking for him… Even stick a sign up at the grocery store or something.
Magayuk is right…there are things far worse than an instantanious (sp?) death. Starvation, disease, being hit by a car, attacked by wild animals and left bleeding to die…give me the “blue juice” anytime compared to those odds!
Mullinator, I have been in the Animal Care and Control field for over 25 years. Do you have a garage (or fenced yard)? If so, leave it open just enough for the dog to get in through the opening. “Hansel and Gretel” food from your drive to well inside the garage. Meaning: drop good smelly food where he normally stays…side yard? Front yard? Diveway? about every foot or so. Left over grilled hot dogs or burgers? Your wife’s pot roast? Something that is meaty and will attract him…
So you drop medium sized morsels every foot or so leading into the garage (or fenced yard) so that he will eventually come onto your turf then you SHUT THE DOOR (GATE) quick! Then call Animal Control and tell them you have a confined stray (higher priority call for most agencies).
Make sure you tell them that while the dog has been around for a while, you have NOT been feeding it (some local laws make it your animal and they can euthanize it right away…we don’t want that).
If you need more help. e-mail me privately (from profile).
Good Luck!
Bless the beasts and the children for they have no voice and they have no choice.
Please check your area for no-kill shelters or rescue organizations. It has been my experience that they will go out of their way to help you help the poor kid out.
Reminder: animals do not have an understanding of their death. What they DO understand is pain and misery in the moment. Whatever you can do to cure that is the right thing to do, even if it results in his being euthanized.
I have three approved homes looking for Boxers or mixes thereof.