Thread: Wild dogs - Discussion

Tough call on dogs.... I would personally either leave a dog alone or try to help it out unless it was outright aggressive and directly threatening me, but I do see that the culture here is much more strict on dogs' behavior, and that they have a potentially excessive effect on wildlife. Don't have much experience with stray dogs being a thing in Canada; the coyotes, wolves, and cougars eat them... and anything a dog could kill there isn't destined for a long long life anyways. Dogs caught wandering on farms do sometimes get shot by farmers on occasion, but usually only if the farmer's a bit of an old coot or they're seen actively bothering calves... rest of the time they're probably just looking for something to roll in or mate with... they generally are pretty fat and slow compared to kiwi dogs too

Doesn't seem to be the same kind of issues on the South Island as North Island with dogs getting lost, but would probably do what I do with dogs I find lost in the city - if I can't find the owner after an hour of looking around and they're sociable, take them to the SPCA or a rescue society if the SPCA can't do it. Between the two of them I've never had them reject taking a lost or neglected dog or cat I've come across, so they're a pretty great resource. Usually it's pretty evident when a dog's just on a short wander vs when a dog's lost - it's in poor physical condition and early on distressed and panicked trying to find its way back, or later has given up and just wants food and attention and has no intent of leaving.

I do everything I can to train dogs to stay close and be well mannered around people and animals... if I had a dog that wandered further off from me and someone shot it on public land that would be pretty heartbreaking, I consider a pet dog as more family than some of my blood relatives.