What do you usually do when… (1 Viewer)

[Wingfrost]

You see a dog or cat maybe walking on the side of the road or wandering around outside?
There are quite a few neighbors of mine that let their cats come and go inside and outside as they please so over the years I’ve gotten to know where each cat lives at just in case I notice one of them hurt so I can let their owners know. There’s also this very sweet Russian blue male that loves to snuggle and he’s the cutest.
But what do you do when maybe you’re driving or out running errands and you notice a dog or cat wandering by themselves? Do you let it be or try to see if you can find their owner by looking at their collars, etc…?
I guess I’m asking because when I had pulled up to my work there was a little kitten who had a flea collar on so she belonged to someone but her fur was very patchy and her hip bones were jutting out so I wanted to help her. Unfortunately she wouldn’t come to me and I had nothing to try to trap her in to maybe take her to the vet to see if she had a chip. So I felt really bad the entire time I was working knowing that she was still out there in a very busy part of town.

Usually whenever I see a cat outside I’ll try to get a good look at it to see if it looks well fed and not injured because usually that means they don’t need any help and it’s just that their owners allow them outside so I’ll leave them alone in that case. If its a dog though I’ll try to do my best to help them by looking at their collar and calling their owner. I don’t like the idea of leaving an animal to possibly being hit by a car or hurt by another animal (we have coyotes and cougars in our area).
I know this thread is already pretty long but something that makes me at times hesitate to help an animal is something that happened with a neighbor a few years ago… I was walking around the neighborhood with a few kids I was babysitting at the time and I noticed this elderly looking cat, his eyes were crusted and overall just looked to be in bad health and I didn’t recognize him as one of my neighbors cats so I began petting him and getting a better look. It was super hot and like I said he looked very unwell so I gave him water, one of the kids with me was actually about ready to cry because he looked so sickly. All of a sudden a man comes storming out of the house where the cat was laying in front of and started yelling at us, (apparently the cat is his) saying we shouldn’t mess with strangers pets, he threw the water and asked where I lived so he could report me… I never even go near that house anymore after that, I was just trying to help the cat in some way.

But what do you guys normally do? ​

 

[gud_bam]

I gonna try to pat it head while just look it from far

Oh.. i just wrote a whole story

Idk..

 

[eclipsoul]

i just walk away because i've had a few unpleasant experiences with stray animals and i'd rather not have that happen again

 

[athenaaa]

If we are driving by and see a cat or a dog I’ll yell “kitty” or “doggo”

 

[Tickita]

I kiss at cats, but I don't expect them to come over

 

[Michael]

Usually nothing.