Why It’s Not Safe to Let Your Dog Roam Free
Even the most isolated road has a car or truck pass by occasionally. You may say your dog never crosses the road, but theres no telling when that can change. He may see an animal on the other side or wander into the street uncharacteristically. Dogs that have been hit by cars account for a very high percentage of pets entering veterinary emergency clinics. Many of these dogs do not survive.
While exploring, your dog can come across disease-carrying substances from animal feces, urine, dead wildlife, and even other living animals. Rabies is a fatal disease to dogs and people, and wildlife like bats, skunks and foxes are often sources of this fatal disease. Leptospirosis is a bacteria that can cause liver and kidney failure and is spread by wildlife urine. Some algae on ponds can cause serious illness in dogs. Dogs are opportunistic scavengers that instinctively eat what they find appealing. Sometimes this can lead to severe gastrointestinal upset and infection with things like salmonella or e.coli.
Parasites include worms, fleas and ticks, and all of these parasites can cause severe illness. Your dog will most likely encounter several of these parasites if left to roam. Ticks can cause serious blood-borne illnesses like Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and Ehrlichia. Fleas can cause anemia, severe skin infections and tapeworms. Intestinal parasites like hookworms, roundworms, whipworms, giardia and coccidia are all common in the environment and the chance of your dog being exposed to one or all of these increases if it is left to roam. Again, your dog may eat whatever he finds appealing and ingest a parasite in the process. Many of these parasites can cause your dog to become sick, often beginning with decreased energy and appetite. You may never notice this until the complications are serious.
Make the Most of Modern Technology Nobody likes to think about losing their beloved pet, but it’s essential that you make sure your dog can easily be returned to you if needed. His tag should have your complete contact information, even if he’s also been microchipped.
Your dog’s temperament is another factor to consider. If your dog does not like being around small children, it’s dangerous to let him run free in an area where he might encounter a curious child. If your dog is aggressive towards other animals, this can also be a problem.
Investing in a GPS collar for your dog is a good way to make sure you’ll be able to quickly find him if he wanders too far out of your sight. Many of these devices will send automatic alerts to your cell phone if your dog wanders out of a predetermined range.
Dogs are curious creatures by nature. They love to explore their environment, which often means roaming free. However, there are a few safety precautions you should take before you allow this type of behavior to occur.
Is My Dog Ready? If you’re going to allow your pet off his leash, it’s important to make sure he’s undergone basic obedience training. If your dog can’t respond to simple commands or come when you call him, he’s not ready to be off the leash just yet.
The law on letting your cat outside
“Unfurtunately”, there is no clear-cut countrywide law on letting your cat roam freely. There arent usually statewide laws, either. While the US does have countrywide and statewide laws on things like animal cruelty, your city or county sets laws regarding free-roaming cats.
You might think laws across the country regarding free-roaming cats would be similar; however, this isnt the case. There are huge variations relating to trespassing, cat licensing, mandatory neutering, and much more.
Only 3 states have standardized laws for cats, or “cat codes”: California, Maine, and Rhode Island. These states have laws on everything from minimum weaning times for kittens to maximum holding times at shelters.
Many laws on free-roaming cats are strict and could result in your cat being impounded or put down by a local shelter. One common law is a “leash law,” which requires cats to stay indoors or on a leash, or theyll be treated like a stray and taken to a pound, similar to dogs.
Another common law that sounds good on paper is cat licensing. These laws require cats to wear some form of identity tag and collar. Otherwise, theyll be picked up by animal control. This means even if your indoor cat briefly gets outside without their collar on, they may be picked up by animal control and taken to a shelter.
These laws also target feral and stray cats, and most local governments have a Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) policy to keep community cat populations in check. Regardless of these policies, the Humane Society of the United States says that, of a population of around 35 million community cats, only 2% are neutered, making TNR generally ineffective in controlling community cat populations.
Many pet parents with feline fur-babies might think these laws are short-sighted, considering cats have lived outside near humans for over 10,000 years. Considering around 70% of shelter cats are euthanized, restrictive laws on free-roaming cats are a serious problem for animal welfare.