Maybe it’s just because August was so busy I was on the road a lot but I have seen many free roaming dogs around lately. I thought perhaps it was just me until we met with a new client recently. She went through and named all the dogs in their very affluent neighborhood. She named off several dogs who were allowed to just roam, unsupervised throughout the neighborhood. This wasn’t an area where everyone has several acres of land and free roaming animals wouldn’t affect the neighbors. This was Suburbia; a neighborhood with generous sized lots. It was clear that these free roaming dogs weren’t appreciated by all the neighbors.
Why do people allow their dogs to roam?
It’s one thing if you live on a farm and have several acres where your dogs can roam without bothering anyone nearby. It’s still not 100% safe, but at least they have a better chance of remaining on your own property.
We have a leash law. That isn’t meant to just protect your neighbors, it’s meant to also protect your dog. So many things can go wrong without supervision or containment. They could get hit by a car, they could get into a fight with another animal, they could get injured and never return home. Is it worth it? To me, no it’s not.
Not only is it not worth it, it’s irresponsible pet ownership.
It used to be whenever you saw a dog wandering on the side of the road you knew they were lost and went out of your way to try to catch the dog and find its owner. I see so many dogs wandering these days that if I tried to catch every one of them and find their homes I’d spend a few hours each week doing that. I’ve seen at least three in the past week.
So what do YOU do when you see a loose dog? Do you stop and try to find its owner? Do you have a problem with loose dogs in your neighborhood?
I always stop but can’t always catch. Drives my hubby crazy LOL