REFLECTIVE COLLARS FOR STRAYS

Thank you Tracey and Megan from USA when visiting AWL they brought these brilliant reflective collars with them as a donation.

I received a very good question today by a friend who asked in a "friendly" tone, if these collars on a stray wouldn't make it that people might stop from helping since they will think the dog has an owner?


There is never a correct answer that will fit in on every stray's situation if they should have a collar or not, but after 10 years working and studying strays let me tell you what I have observed and how I do it. Please, a very important note, you have to be very experienced in the field with strays before you do this. If you don't have experience and have worked with them in different countries, it can have devastating outcomes.


I don't put collars on every stray I see, everything depends on where they live. If they are being taken care of in a Parco, there is no sense to put a collar on them. But if they live around heavy-traffic streets and they are healthy and people feed them, then the collar will help with the traffic, and the hope is the people will continue to provide food (if the dog keeps the same routine, more than likely the people will too). The people know me from my rounds that I make 2-3 times a week. I know the dogs, the people know me. They feed them, I (AWL) medicates them if needed. I de-worm them regularly, also.

A collar can save a stray also from being caught by the dog catchers here and put into horrible concentration camp/shelters that not many know about, (and if the know they don't want to visit them because they are so horrible). --I have been in several of these concentration camps under cover doing research that will be coming in my next book.


Also I have learned that people are nicer to "strays" that have a collar, it is someone' dog so they will think it is a nicer dog. After all, if someone got close enough to put a collar on, the dog can't be too likely to bite or snap. Many people that have caught a dog with a collar (including myself) and no tags and no microchip seek to find the owner. They nurse the dog since they feel sorry for him, they put up posters and after two months they are trying to adopt him away (or ending up keeping him.) The Italian law is that if no owner has claimed the dog in 2 months, it is yours --- as long as you go through the authorities.

Many times the collars are getting stolen by people too. That is another sad side shown from the humans. That is why we no longer put scalibor (flea collars) on them, they got stolen in one day since they are so expensive to buy. So now I put Expot on the strays instead.


So in some cases we put on the reflective collar but not on everyone....like with all cases, you have to make a thorough judgement/research. That is "glowing" Amore