1. Rescue

Animal shelters not only protect stray dogs
but also rescue them.

When someone finds a dog wandering around and reports the issue,
usually the animal shelter which is located close by
comes to rescue the abandoned dog.

It is not just the dogs who have been intentionally abandoned that are rescued by the animal shelter.

Dogs who are healthy, with wellmanaged fur and teeth,
or are wearing name tags and identification tags
may be “missing dogs” who have owners but are lost.

Also, if the dog was found in the countryside, it is possible that
he was raised in a leashfree environment where he would freely move around.

Therefore, if you find a dog alone on the street,
it’s a good idea to look around the community or the social media
before reporting to an animal shelter.


2. Protection, Return to Owner, and Adoption

Although the situation varies from shelter to shelter,
most animal shelters are underresourced,
so stray dogs tend to stay for around 10 days on average.

During this period, the animal shelter trains stray dogs
or treats and cares for them if they are unwell.

In addition, the shelter organizes photos of or information about the rescued stray dog
and posts them on the website or the social media,
waiting for the original owner or a new one to contact them.

If the original owner comes to find the lost dog and takes him home,
the dog will be considered to have been “returned to owner,”
while it would be considered an “adoption” if a new owner takes the dog home.


3. Euthanasia

However, most abandoned dogs are not adopted
or do not return to their original home
even after the certain protection period has passed.

Also, it is realistically quite difficult to take care of all stray dogs
because not only do the animal shelters lack material resources and manpower,
but also the number of newly rescued stray dogs
continues to increase.

Therefore, unfortunately, stray dogs whose protection period has passed
are usually put to sleep through euthanasia drugs.

However, in order to avoid this cruel reality, even by a little,
there is an increasing number of volunteers who provide foster care for abandoned dogs
who have not been adopted/taken back home during the protection period.