You don’t have to be an animal lover to respect and treat animals well if you are not as fond of animals you don’t need to love them. Just having NGO numbers on hand and helping them when needed is more than enough.
Many are fearful of dogs or other animals due to a bad history with them, but not all animals are the same and not all will harm you. Many times it’s us who unknowingly (or knowingly) aggravates the animal and ends up getting bitten or maybe the animal had a screw loose.
Let’s look at how we can treat the animal’s right
How to pet a dog or cat:-
Put your arm forward and let the dog sniff the back of your hand first.
Petting the head initially can be a sign that you’re trying to dominate the dog, and if you’re a stranger that may not end the right way.
Once they sniff your hand they will show a sign like a nudge on your hand or lick it, you can then go ahead and pet them.
Cats are a little trickier as not all of them are friendly and a stray cat will run away instantly. But if one does approach you, you let then sniff your hand first and they will move their head in the direction they want to be petted. You can even try and make a squeaky noise to call them.
In my humble opinion, it’s not bad to pet a stray dog. However, there are certain things I follow,
I never let a stray lick my hand as they may have some infection.
I wash or sanitize my hands once I touch a stray animal.
I do not let a stray dog jump on me and if one does jump on you just walk towards them so they move away. Claim your space, if you back away they will jump again, they may even nibble on your hand playfully which may not be the best.
Know how to play with strays and pet animals
People often like petting stray or pet animals. It’s important to know the right way to pet animals so they do not feel threatened and lash out. Avoid petting newborn puppies (especially strays) if the mother is around she may try to attack not knowing your intention.
Sometimes children take the puppies away from the mother when they are just a few weeks or months old and won’t keep the puppy back to where they picked it from. If the pup hasn’t spent enough time with their mother, she will lose the smell.
They have likes and dislikes too
This is not only for pet’s but strays as well, many strays don’t like being petted as they are scared of people and may bite. This could be due to bad past experience with people. Pets, however, may love cuddling and some may hate it, some may not like certain ways of cuddling or just not like being touched in certain places.
Visit animal shelters once in a while
Animal shelters are not for everyone, some animals are badly injured and the sight won't always be pleasant. Overcrowding in animal shelters shows why adopting an animal is better than buying one.
All of these are my personal opinions. They are things that I have learnt and that have helped me bond with every second animal I meet. If you learn to respect animals and not fear them they will learn to respect and obey you in return.
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