Helping a Stray Dog or Cat
What can you do when you find a stray dog or cat? Adoption isn't always an option, yet turning a blind eye to the stray's plight can often mean the stray will starve or die. Most of us have been faced with this situation, and have come up with the following steps to help:
- If there's no place you can safely keep the stray, then you
may need to take the animal to a humane society or shelter. The Animal
control section of the Rolla police department operates a city shelter,
and will take in animals from Phelps county residents for a fee. The advantage of the shelter is that
the stray will be more visible to potential adopters. However, lack of funding means that the shelter will euthanize sick or injured animals (including pregnant ones), as well as less adoptable ones when room runs out.
- If you can keep the animal on a short-term basis, please consider
posting "Found" signs around the neighborhood the stray was
found. The Rolla Daily News
will post a "Found" ad for free for 3 days. The Animals section in the classifieds of
Rollanet
is also an excellent place to advertise a found animal.
- If there is no response after a week, then try to place the stray
for adoption. While some "free to good homes" adoptions can work, especially with adequate screening of
the home, there are horror stories about why these are bad ideas.
You also want
to ensure the new owner can afford pet food, veterinary care, and shelter (preferably inside the house). These
questions provide
a good list of questions to ask the potential new owner.
- You would be giving the stray an added boost if you also spayed/neutered and vaccinated the stray. There is an overpopulation of animals in the area, and if you "rescue" an animal, but let it reproduce, you are frankly contributing to the problem. See our spay and neuter page for more details.