Mission: Stray Cats and Dogs Need Your Help—Here’s What to Do

Posted by Calvin on March 28, 2025

Stray cats and dogs might seem like they’re holding their own in the streets, but they’re not—they’re domesticated animals, so they aren’t built to survive alone. 🐱🐶

Here’s a quick checklist to follow if you see a stray cat or dog:

1. Secure them

Don’t leave or let them out of your sight—they might be afraid of humans, so be patient. If they seem too fearful to approach, like they’re hiding, growling, hissing, or acting aggressively, contact animal control or the local public animal shelter and keep your eyes on the animal until help arrives. Pro tip: Keep an emergency kit in your car in case the animal needs food, water, or other necessities.

2. Check for tags or injuries

If it’s safe to approach the animal and you see they have a collar with tags, call the number listed UNLESS they seem neglected or abused—that’s when you take them to the authorities. If they’re injured, carefully take them to the nearest shelter ASAP. Folks at the shelter will check for a microchip, which is the easiest way to find the guardians. Ensure you protect yourself, too—animals sometimes bite when they’re in pain! If the shelter is closed, call animal control or the police. You might need to take an injured stray to the nearest emergency vet clinic.

3. Spread the word

If you find a cat or dog who seems healthy, friendly to humans, and probably just lost, go door to door in the surrounding neighborhood to see if you can find their fam. If nobody seems to recognize them, try making a flier with a pic of the animal and your contact info and hang copies around a 2-mile radius of where you found them. Make sure to post the info online, too, especially on social media, where people in that neighborhood are likely to see it.

Note: DON’T try to keep a stray animal you find. If you can’t find their human within a reasonable amount of time, take them to the nearest shelter so they can be reunited with their fam.

The most important thing is to not ignore them. Stray cats and dogs could be poisoned, shot, hit by cars, or attacked by other animals. They could die of exposure, starvation, or painful diseases and infections. 😰 Choosing to step in, even just by alerting your local shelter, can help them avoid extreme suffering.

Earn peta2 Points

Everyone should know what to do if they see a stray animal. Spread the word to help as many animals as possible and earn 15 peta2 points from our Rewards Program—here’s how:

1. Share our informative post on IG and take a screenshot.  

2. Submit the screenshot for 15 peta2 points. (Heads-up: You’ll only be awarded points for taking this action once.)

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