When people use the word “Stray” they often do so out of ignorance. In a way, many people think that the word “Stray” is the pet equivalent of the human “Hobo”, an animal who is living on the street out of choice. In fact there is really no such thing as a stray pet. These pets are often lost, or were abandoned by their owner. Perhaps they were even picked up by an angry neighbor and dropped in an other area.

Dogs bond to people. If a dog is out in the yard with his people, he views them as his pack. He does not wander off, except if he thinks he is playing a friendly game of chase. A new dog, who has not yet bonded, might look for its last owner. A dog left alone in a yard might be bored, dig out of the yard, and go looking for its’ owner.

Cats bond to places. Cats very seldom understand the concept of a fence, and assume they have free range, but they always desire to return to their home. Cats are easily lost or confused when their owners move with them, or take them on holiday. Out of its’ home element, a cat may panic, and may not even respond correctly to their owner.

Any pet, when not spayed or neutered, will be ruled by sexual desires. This will mean they wander more often, and longer distances, but generally will desire to return home.

Pets who leave their owners property often become nuisances. Sadly many people do not know what to do when they have nuisance animals on their property. Often people pick the animal up, drive it to another area and leave it, or worse. Cases where pets have been tortured are not unheard of.

Image by Author.

This is my cat, we live on a farm, he might look like a stray, but if you stopped to “rescue” him off my property, you would be commiting theft. 

Some pets may have been abandoned by their owners, this is illegal in most places, but it happens. If you find a pet, you have no way of knowing if it was lost or abandoned. To assume it is a “stray” is incorrect. In any case the right thing to do is to call your local animal shelter and report finding the animal, or take it to them. Taking in a “stray” pet and thinking you are rescuing it, without reporting finding it, may actually be a theft. Picking up a “stray” pet and driving it to another area and dumping it, is two crimes, theft and animal abandonment. Punishing a “stray” pet for messing in your yard is not fair to the pet at all, because it is the owner to blame for allowing the pet out of their yard, of course this too can amount to a crime depending on the punishment to the pet.

Just because a pet is not wearing a collar, does not mean it doesn’t have an owner. The collar might have fallen off, or the owner did not have one on their pet. Some people are now identifying their pets though a microchip, a small device implanted in the pet that cannot be seen or felt. Other owners are opting for a tattoo, which can be in the pets ear, inner leg, or on their belly.

Do not view wandering pets as “Strays” maybe they were abandoned by a heartless owner, or maybe they got out by mistake and are lost. Maybe there is an owner looking for them, but the owner happens to live on the other side of town.

Feral pets are pets who have been living on their own for so long they behave in a partially wild manner. Often they become problems in the area they live. Feral dogs form packs and become aggressive. Feral cats become nuisances in neighborhoods. Most feral pets started out being thought of as “Strays”, but nobody took the time to contact the local animal shelter in hopes of finding their old owner or finding them a new owner. Many feral pets are not spayed or neutered, so they contribute to the excess pet problem for no fault of their own. If people changed their views on “Stray” animals and decided to accept a responsibility for them, then we could make a dent in the feral population.

If you have found that you are taking care of a neighborhood stray, make sure you do the pet a favor, call your local shelter and see if anyone had reported missing a pet of that description. If not then you have the decision to make, either consider yourself the new owner and continue to provide care for that pet, or take it to the shelter. Either way, the pet will no longer be considered a “Stray”.

This is a link on how to find a lost pet. 

How to Find a Lost Pet