Not All Stray Dogs Appreciate Being Saved

A couple from Maryland “rescued” an Egyptian street dog that they fell for and had it transported back to the USA for a new life as their pet. Unfortunately, the dog was clearly traumatised by the 18-hour journey and all the unknown sights, sounds and smells so it bolted as soon as it got the chance at the airport. He is still on the loose and the couple are still looking for him (full report here).

I am sure that given the chance this couple could provide the dog with a healthy and well-loved life but I always question whether such dogs are really better off being rescued. There is undoubtedly a chance that any street dog in Egypt or many other countries could meet an unpleasant fate or live a harsh and short life but it is wrong to assume that this will be the case particularly where the dog has lived all its life on the streets and already reached adulthood. It’s hard to be sure exactly how a dog sees their world but many street dogs I come across are apparently living very good lives with adequate food, companionship (both canine and human) and the freedom to define their own activities (which in my opinion should not be undervalued). To such animals the trauma of an international rescue must be significant.

Having said that, I am not criticising this couple who tried to help a stray dog who had charmed them, and the chances are that the dog will be found and they will be able to make amends. I hope so.

The other reason I was interested in this story was because it contains the ubiquitous assumption that all dogs, whatever they look like, must have come from a mixture of known breeds. Apparently, the western belief is that every dog on the planet can be nicely categorised as a breed or a combination of breeds. I find this a little arrogant as it ignores the fact that millions of village and street dogs around the world have never been through the breed mill – they come from lines that have ALWAYS lived as village dogs. Call them generic, call them pariahs, call them mongrels if you want (which is true for many thanks to our careless pet-keeping) but please accept that they exist as an entity outside the directly human-controlled dog breeds. This particular dog has been labelled a German Shepherd-Labrador mix, which is possible but to me it looks far more like an age-old village dog with a touch of escaped pet.

Putting these two strongly-ingrained assumptions together (that all street dogs need saving and that all dogs are breeds or the product of breeds) makes me realise how much work there is to do to get the message across that neither are true on a worldwide scale.

Learn more about the lives and issue of unowned dogs in my e-book ”A Stray View” available from Bangkok Books (readable as .pdf on any computer)