The Silent Suffering of Abandoned Dogs

During the COVID-19 pandemic lots of people adopted pets, especially dogs and cats. Since they were working from home and kids didn’t have to go to school, they had plenty of time to spend with a new pet. But when the pandemic ended, people went back to work and didn’t have enough time to take care of their dogs. This led to a 73% increase in dogs being abandoned on the streets between 2019 and 2021.

People who are looking to get a dog should be more thoughtful as to if they really want a dog or not - for example, the sale of Huskies went up due to their appearance on Game of Thrones, according to Kron4. Or people will see YouTube videos of Belgian Malinois doing amazing stunts. Then, when people buy the breed they realize Malinois require significant exercise and training on a daily basis, and will dump them on the streets.

According to petmate, homeless dogs outnumber homeless people by 5 to 1, and most of these dogs end up on the streets because they are abandoned. People abandon dogs for other reasons as well. As I mentioned in my article about puppy mills and backyard breeding, breeders abandon their dogs after they no longer produce puppies. Regular people abandon dogs bought from such breeders due to the high medical cost.

Dog abandonment isn’t just a problem for dogs; it affects people too. It’s a huge traffic hazard because scared dogs run across roads and highways, leading to terrible accidents. People might accidentally hit the dog with their car or swerve to avoid the dog, causing crashes with other cars. Plus, the police and animal control officers spend hours trying to catch these dogs, wasting precious time and money, which can be used for serving and protecting. Catching a stray dog can take days.

Sometimes, there are valid reasons for not being able to take care of a dog anymore. These reasons include financial problems, moving to a new place, changes in lifestyle, health concerns, pet allergies, and lack of knowledge about pet care. But there are safer options for giving up your pet instead of just abandoning it on the street. You can surrender your animal to places like animal shelters, rescue organizations, humane societies, veterinary clinics, and community programs. But most people don’t want to go to the shelter because they feel guilty about abandoning their pets.

Abandoning dogs has a huge impact on the animals too. Dogs are domesticated and have been for generations. They don’t know how to survive in the wild, and smaller dogs can become targets for predators.

Dog abandonment is a serious issue with big consequences for both dogs and communities. Do you really want the dog you abandon on the streets to be prey for other animals or captured and used for dog bait in dog fighting?