By Jeremy D. Wells
Carter County Times
For a while, I carried a bag of puppy food in the back of my car. It started when I saw a dog outside the Walgreens in Olive Hill. She had obviously just had puppies as her teats were swollen, but she was very emaciated. I wanted to feed her, and knew she needed the extra calories if she was nursing, so I went back into the Walgreens, bought the bag of food, and came outside and poured a little bit on the ground near her. She was very skittish and reluctant to come near me, so I just poured a little out and backed away. She came up, ate greedily, and I drove away. I came back through later to see if she was still around and, when I didn’t see her, I rolled the dog food bag back up and put it in the trunk of my car.
I never saw that dog again, but I have fed other animals from that bag of food. Even cats were grateful to get it when I didn’t have anything else.
But I’ve never dumped an entire bag of food out and left it on the street.
It’s a phenomenon I’ve seen lately, though, and I understand where folks are coming from. They want to be kind. It breaks their heart to see a starving cat or a starving dog. But this kind of intervention doesn’t really help.
Olive Hill has a problem with packs of roaming wild dogs. If you put out food, and leave it out, those animals are going to be attracted to it and they’re going to eat it. Not just wild dogs, but raccoons, opossums, and other critters. Sure, raccoons and opossums are not a big problem, but what if we had a bear wander through? What if the pile of food attracts the attention of a coyote pack?
I understand the desire to feed a hungry animal. But if you’re going to feed, you need to do it responsibly. You need to set up a feeding station. If you’re feeding cats, you need to make sure it’s up high where other animals can’t get to it. (Or at least where dogs can get to it.)
If you’re feeding dogs, you can’t just dump an entire bag outside of the grocery store and leave it there. For one, it’s a mess. It’s going to get wet. People are going to step in it. It’s going to be tracked back in the store. It’s an inconvenience to the store that you just bought it from, and it’s an inconvenience to all the shoppers there. Secondly, it’s going to start getting moldy in the kind of weather we’ve been having. If you leave it out there for any period of time, and if the food disappears quickly enough that it’s not going to get moldy, it’s indicative of the fact that it’s drawing a lot of animals. Not just the one you were trying to feed. Maybe that is your goal, but it’s not necessarily what is best for your community.
So, I’m asking you to do us all a favor. If you are going to feed, please feed responsibly. Set up stations, and feed small amounts at a time. Do it in an inconspicuous area and in an area where animals feel safe.
Especially with cats, if you set up a feed station and you feed there regularly, they are going to know when and where to come for food. It actually makes it easier to do things like trap, neuter, and release programs; because the animals will all come to that same location every day. Then you can set up the traps, catch the animals, get them neutered or spayed, and release them back where they were captured after the surgery. That helps – both the animals and the community.
I’m not asking you to squelch your compassion. It’s commendable and I salute you for putting your money where your mouth is. I’m just asking you to consider what is best, for the animals and the community.
Contact the writer at editor@cartercountytimes.com