The dog
one animal, three classifications
companion animal - abandoned animal (stray) - feral animal
Despite a global attachment of our society towards companion animals, millions of dogs are relinquished to shelters each year and several millions of those are euthanised. Professionals in the veterinary, animal control and animal welfare fields are now seeing companion animal overpopulation as a "people problem" rather than an animal problem (e.g., Arkow, 1991; Arluke, 1991; Miller, Staats, Partlo & Rada, 1996; Moulton, Wright & Rindy, 1991) with the individual and collective behaviour of people as a causal agent, while variables in the environment (animal welfare agencies, pet industry, media) are also believed to be contributing factors.
Other than being placed in overcrowded shelters and/or euthanised, many dogs are strays and roam free, becoming a nuisance and causing illness and harm to the community (Allen & Westbrook, 1979). These animals are either owned and allowed to roam unsupervised, or without an owner. Between these two extremes are animals which have some interaction with humans but do not officially belong to one particular person or family (neighbourhood or community owned dogs/cats) (Wandeler, 1985; Slater, 2002).
A subgroup of free roaming dogs are strays: recently owned but lost, escaped or abandoned animals and their offspring (Rubin and Beck, 1982; Slater, 2002).
Further complicating the classification of these subpopulations is the fact that dogs may move between these subpopulations during their lives, becoming more or less socialized or going from a pet to a stray to a pet again. Free roaming dogs are commonly socialized to some degree and they have contact with human beings who provide the food and shelter needed for survival. While feral dogs do exist, they are rather rare and elusive (Boitani et al., 1995).
Companion (pet) animals have no common animal protection law in the European Union (EU), but the animals are considered under each country's laws. Some European countries have no laws at all to protect the animals. Other countries have poor laws, or they are simply being ignored and crimes against animals are rarely being prosecuted and punished.
A common protective law for ALL companion animals (abandoned animals (strays) included), valid for all EU member states would provide an equivalent or even higher protection for all companion animals of the EU, but so far, the European Union (EU) failed to consider this option.
