How You Can Help Feed Homeless Dogs

homeless

Something that may surprise all of you is that in some states it’s illegal to feed stray and abandoned dogs.  They are considered a plight to the city and “nuisances.”  The dogs often fall under the saw laws as feeding wild animals, which is prohibited in many states around the country.  So rather than taking care of the problem of stray dogs, many states and cities have turned their backs on the problem and because of this, stray dogs struggle around the country, and world.

Thankfully some organizations try to help these dogs no matter what.  One of these organizations, World Animal Awareness Society (WA2S), is generally working hand in hand with these rescue groups.  They’ve managed to film some of the secrets of the American Stay Dog Population and have learned quite a bit in helping us help these dogs.  Here are some tips that WA2S recommends.

1. Try and get involved with a rescue group that is already feeding the homeless animals as that would give you access to free food.

2. If you are feeding independently, have contacts with rescue groups who could help you rescue a homeless animal should it be in need of immediate medical treatment.

If you have to do it alone, here are 11 additional tips.

1. Become aware of where you see dogs congregate in a location you want to focus on.
2. Be familiar with the area that you are feeding in. (Be careful and don’t feed at night or alone)
3. If they are near high traffic areas begin to leave food away from the flow of traffic.
4. Try to be consistent with the time of day that you feed. This helps them learn to be nearby at that time so they don’t miss an opportunity to eat.
5. If there are more than one dog, make more than one bowl or pile of food. You don’t know whether any of the dogs could be food aggressive or just so hungry that he/she doesn’t want to share.
6. Please don’t just feed. Bring fresh water.
7. Try to feed where the dogs can be safe from car traffic or human traffic. You never know the intention of the casual passer-by.
8. Do not over feed an emaciated dog. If you can’t bring the dog to safety, only feed small portions and let him gradually gain his normal weigh back.
9. Don’t be surprised if a dog turns his nose to the kibble you try to feed him. Often they are eating human food from the trash or are eating someone’s scaps.
10. If there is a dog that you cannot get close enough to feed you can fill a plastic bag or brown lunch paper sack with dog food and seal. Then toss the filled sack in his direction. he dog will be able to tear open the sack to eat.
11. If ants are a concern place the food bowl inside a shallow dish of water. This should prevent the ants from getting into the food bowl.

Image via Ivan Bandura

Comments

Leave a Reply

Loading…

0