Dog abandonment creates enormous welfare harms for both individual dogs and contributes to global stray populations experiencing chronic deprivation and suffering.
Abandoned dogs experience psychological trauma from sudden loss of familiar environments, people, and routines. On the streets, they face chronic food insecurity, disease exposure, injury, and the stress of uncertain social status. In shelters, they experience the stresses of confinement. The scale of dog abandonment worldwide creates enormous preventable suffering. Root causes include impulse acquisition, inadequate pet owner education, and insufficient resources for low-income pet owners facing veterinary emergencies.