Don't fret. You are doing fine.
Animals need help and often wind up abused if no one comes to their rescue.

Some humans are more people oriented than others, and that's fine too.

I am very concerned about anyone who is homeless: dogs...cats...humans...

You're not expected to be species-centered: humans and non-human animals BOTH count.

The fact that you are genuinely feeling for sentient beings outside of yourself is THE important thing. Which sentient beings you are focusing on at any particular time in your life is up to YOU.

Relax. You're doing "it" just fine.

If you're not already doing something practical to help, try it. Take food (and water!!!) for feral dogs and cats to places where you think it will be appreciated. (There are some specific sidewalks where I leave food, on pieces of paper, for any passing animals who need it, because I know there are feral animals about in those particular areas.)

Volunteer somewhere where the volunteering is about helping homeless animals. (For example: where I live, we have an organization who helps feral cats, including spaying and neutering them via cooperating veterinarians, and then--after they are healed--releasing them back into the "wild.")

I keep a ceramic pet bowl ALWAYS full of water at my house, in a place where it is accessible to any passing cats, dogs, possums, skunks, raccoons, or lizards (all of which--I know for a fact!--have gratefully drunk that water). I keep the bowl clean, and filled with fresh water at all times.

Another thing you can do is see if there are organizations in your area which collect pet food, dishes, beds, etc. and donate them to people who are housebound because they are elderly, disabled, or have serious AIDS. You can volunteer at places like these, also--and these organizations PREVENT dogs from going homeless by making sure they can be kept at home, with the people who love them.

Use your worries about homeless dogs to help homeless dogs in some way that is meaningful to you.

And forget about being guilty: EVERYONE homeless deserves to know that they are cared for. By helping homeless dogs, you are helping your community, and our planet, to be a much better place than it would be without you. :)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/17/2014 03:27PM by tevai.

There are most always community resources awailable for homeless people, from emergency shelters to social programs to help them get away from homelessness.

Homeless animals they euthanize after a certain number of days.

I'm with you - I'm more concerned about the homeless dogs than the homeless people. People are usually homeless by choice - animals go homeless by some cruel act of man.

Moving back to Utah was like going back in time in regards to how people treat animals. Where I lived before, there were very few strays. When an animal gets hit on the road here, it stays for weeks, sometimes months. It's just a totally different attitude towards animals from what I've witnessed. Yes, they have programs here to help, but to the general public, it doesn't seem like a huge priority.

Sorry, the idea of "homeless" animals make me laugh. Somehow animals got along on this planet for who knows how many millions of years without humans taking care of them. They are still capable of getting along just fine without us. Some dog breeds have been purposefully rendered useless by human intervention so I guess I can see some concern with them. But most dogs and ALL cats are capable of getting on just fine without humans caring for them. other than spaying/neutering to manage population levels I don't see any reason to panic just because a dog or a cat doesn't have a human feeding it.

Now, being worried about an animal being held by a human that is being abused or neglected is sensible. That happens all too often. An animal that is unrestrained by humans is generally speaking living as it was designed to even if its in the depths of a human city.

I couldn't disagree more with you.

+1

+1000000

Feral/dumped cats and dogs are subjected to horrible abuse, starvation, and disease because people don't give a shit and plenty dump their animals because they don't want to pay the fee to drop an animal in a shelter. Then if these animals survive, they tend to get infected with all kind of diseases that can affect people's pets.

Animals got along for millions of years because humans had not taken over and changed the landscape into something foreign (concrete and paved roads everywhere)...dangerous (high-speed vehicles, poisons, traps of various kinds everywhere, malevolent humans)...and not conducive to sustained life (lack of potable water, animals further down the lifechain eliminated, new diseases, no natural places of rocks and trees to raise newborns in relative safety).

Dogs and cats DO starve to death because their historically natural sources of food have been near-completely eliminated, and because whatever they CAN find for food is frequently nutritionally worthless. If you are a mother cat who is nursing kittens, then just like a human being, you need GOOD FOOD, or your kittens are going to die from starvation or malnutrition.

The "depths of a human city" is generally NO place for an un-homed dog or cat...it is terrorizing, full of "traps" of one kind or another (like dumpsters)...and isolating in all the ways that, if that were not the case, would allow the natural situations that would insure that same animal's survival in the wild.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/17/2014 05:23PM by tevai.

You do realise that much of what you just said is wrong, jesuswantsme4asucker?

I am not am animal person and never will be. I am glad others are and help them. The world is made up of all kinds of people. And animals need advocates.

I hate, HATE, when I see a band of transients with a puppy. They are begging for money to feed themselves and their puppy. They should not have taken the puppy if they did not have a way to feed it every meal. If it is a puppy I know they recently acquired it when they should not have.

so the homeless adopting homeless pets offends you? I doubt they paid $100 to adopt it from the humane society. How else do you think they acquired it? The puppy probably came to them for help. No wait, puppies are supposed to thrive in the wild according to the above post, without help. I hope you're never homeless or lonely. Sheesh



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/17/2014 05:31PM by Tupperwhere.

I am not offended by it. I just don't want the little doggie being hungry. When I see it I assume that they are preventing someone else who would be more able to take care of it from doing it.

I know they did not pay for it. I just assume someone was giving the dog away and the people stepped up and said they would take it. If they didn't then the original owner may have found another home with more food.

If the dog was wandering around and the transient stepped up and took it from off the street then that is a different story. I had not thought about it like that. It may be a more openminded way to do it.

I tend to see groups of teens/young adults about five to eight of them traveling with a group. It is not that I don't want them to feel love or accepted. I have bought them food, taken them to lunch and wanted to show kindness.

I just worry the little puppy will starve to death. I was not trying to disparage transients.

I also hope I am never homeless or lonely.

I am sorry I did not convey what I was trying to say in my first post.

They are taking CARE of it!!!

I love to see transients who have adopted dogs or cats because they are (most generally) loving and caring for EACH OTHER.

How is that abandoned dog or cat going to get food in any regular city without help?

And at night, when the transients are cold and lonely and feeling totally cast out by every human in the world, who gives that human being the feeling of being needed and cared or and LOVED except for that dog or cat?

Put yourself in the position of the transient...OR the dog or cat.

How would YOU like to be totally alone in the world, without any creature comforts or safety help at all, cold (or WAY over-hot), and needing water and food and comfort--with no way to get any of those?

The transients help the abandoned animals, and the abandoned animals help the transients. They each take care of each other.

How can you not see the real beauty in this?

+1000 Tevai. Well, they did start their post with saying they were not animal lovers, never will be. How is that possible I will never get, but whatever.

My little cat was booted out of his former home a couple of years ago. I'm grateful to the neighbors who gave him meals before I discovered his plight and took him in. He is a great little guy and didn't deserve to lose his first home. He was *so* excited when he realized I was going to feed him!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/17/2014 09:04PM by summer.

I feel the same and don't feel guilty at all. Why do you feel guilty??? Because humans are " better" than dogs? Why are they better? They are not. Or you feel guilty because humans are "the higher" ranked than dogs? Why are they higher? They are not. If they are them bom is true and the cult is true.
Shit. I mean Amen

I care more about humans than other species, but I understand the pathos of an abandoned domestic pet. And when people are cruel to their pets, rrrr...I get angry. Animal abusers go to jail in this state.

I love animals. I worry about them and they are the focus of my charity. That comes from the heart, just like it does for you, anon for ever and ever, and I don't try to qualify it or measure it against anything else because the world is full of stuff that needs our attention and love and you just have to start somewhere.

I have pets and they are with me for life. I have one now that I adopted based on a description of her personality and a video I saw of her. What she turned out to be wasn't quite what I expected, but I wasn't going to take her back. She needed my help. Poor baby had to have been abused. It took a long time and some hard work for her to trust me. She's a much bigger challenge than my other cats but I love her just as much as I love them. She is very sweet at times and purrs up a storm. I am happy to have her. I have a feeling that if someone else had adopted her she'd have been returned. I feel like I'm doing some good by having adopted her and the others that I have.

I feel so bad for pets that are abandoned and abused. They give unconditional love and they don't understand why their human dumps them. Our world is dangerous for them.

If you're going to get a pet, keep in mind that they sometimes need medical care and if you rent or may have to rent in the future, you may need a deposit. Always have some money set aside for these things just in case. I really don't understand how people can just walk away from their pets and leave them. There are so many "luxuries" that can be given up when money gets tight, but so many are too selfish to do that and get rid of the pet first. People can be horrible and that's why it's easy to feel more sorry for a homeless animal than a human.

Don't feel guilty. Homeless pets, dogs and cats, like all homeless children, are victims. They aren't responsible for their circumstances and don't have the abilities to fend for themselves. Many homeless adults are the same.

One dog of ours is a kill shelter rescue, the other is a pound puppy. Both are great pets, loyal and fun loving, who only needed a place to thrive. Of the cats, all but one followed the Siamese home and through the cat door. As much as I hate litter boxes, one is sitting on me now with her turbo-purr engaged.

If you care for even one of these critters, the world is better.