The effects of Dog Abandonment by Tara Ramakrishnan

The Effects of Dog Abandonment :

Can you imagine being abandoned on the side of the road with absolutely no idea where you are or what you should do ? Well if you think it would be horrible then imagine how life is for the hundreds of stray dogs going through that exactly ! As Cesar Chavez once said, “We need, in a special way, to work twice as hard to help people understand that animals are fellow creatures and we must protect them and love them as we love ourselves.”. To me this is telling us that, in our own way, animals are as important as ourselves , so we should treat them that way. I’m sure that, whether you know it, somewhere deep inside of us, we all feel that way. Now to bring that out in you, let me explain the mental and physical effects of dog abandonment and organizations working hard to help the dogs abandoned.

Mental Effects of Dog Abandonment :

When cars race past, scaring stay dogs out of their wits, something changes inside them .......

Dog abandonment effects the dog not only physically but mentally, and dogs get frightened, defensive, confused and very unpredictable.

So much damage can be caused by abandoned a dog, so when a dog rescuer tries to coax the stray out of it’s hiding place, most dogs are too scared to respond to the rescuer.

Living on the street as a stray dog can bear a striking resemblance to surviving the initiation tests that many gangs have. Dodging the racing cars, scrounging dumpsters for food, being bullied by other dogs on the street, all part of living on the street.

Though a lot of mental effects are caused by the sheer trauma of being abandoned or by the other stray dogs on the street, some are caused by physical effects that damage their mental state. For example, having a close call with a car would make the dog extremely jumpy.

Physical Effects of Dog Abandonment :

When abandoned, dogs are susceptible to an array of obstacles that could damage their lives physically through dehydration, starvation, disease, injury, and at the worst, death.

Dehydration and Starvation :

Though this is common in stray dogs all over the world, in Bangalore, dehydration is more damaging to the dog because of the constant heat and the lack of shade (in some places). And as for starvation, most dogs, but not all, can find food in bins and dumps everywhere, but the dogs who can’t, starve and become thin and sickly.

Disease :

So many diseases can be found on the road, but two of the worst are sickness caused by parasites and rabies.

Parasites can include fleas, ticks, and various kinds of worms such as tapeworms, whip worms, hookworms, roundworms and heart worms.

Abandoned dogs can also get rabies because of being bitten by an infected fox, raccoon, bat or skunk. Symptoms for rabies are fever, lack of coordination, frothy saliva, seizures and change in personality in the form of shyness or aggression.

Injury :

Dogs on the street can get injured in so many ways., being hit by cars, or/and because of stray dogs or wild animals.

A lot of the time when dogs are trying to avoid the racing cars, one of their limbs can be injured causing the dog extreme pain and distress.

Another way dogs on the street get hurt is by other dogs or wild animals, either by teeth or by claw.

Death :

When any of the above (dehydration, starvation, disease, injury) gets out of hand (meaning REALLY bad) it could result in death. Normally, dogs with owners die of old age because is often taken to the vet for check-ups and vaccinations, but who does this for the dogs on the street ? No one ! So the dog dies alone and (usually) in pain.

Dog Rescue centres near you :

Though dog abandonment is everywhere, there are always groups trying to help the abandoned dogs, like CUPA and Dumas.

CUPA :

Compassion Unlimited Plus Action is an organization that rescues thousands of injured or ill animals off the streets. Founded by Miss Chrystal Rogers in 1991, CUPA is a non-profit, non-government run organization devoted to helping the animals on the street.

CUPA is divided into 7 centres : Large Animal rescue center, Animal birth control centre, second chance adoption centre, 24-7 pet clinic, Geriatric center, Trauma and rescue centre, and the Wildlife rescue and rehabilitation centre.

CUPA also does activities like advocacy for animal rights, pet cruelty inspections, and awareness sessions with schools, colleges, corporations and so on.

Dumas :

Dumas Animal Welfare Trust is a non-profit, non-government organization supported by Whitefield Rising. One of the special things that Sumas offers is home baked dog treats and one of the most important things they do is feed over a hundred dogs every day.

Now have you changed your mind about whether you can imagine living on the streets as a stray dog ? Maybe, maybe not. Well, either way, at least now you know what so many dogs go through on the street and why we should help them in any way we can. After all, a little, goes a long way.