History Main / APetIntoTheWild

This trope is almost always presented in a more positive light than it is in real life. In real life, pets-gone-stray do not do well in the wild. They don't have the survival skills of feral animals and often times get loose in places completely unsuitable for their species. For example, stray and feral chickens do well in Hawaii, because it is tropical like the red jungle fowl’s (ancestor of the domestic chicken) native habitat. Stray chickens don't do so well in Northeastern and northern Midwestern US states and Southeastern Canada because the climate is very different from that of their ancestor.

Contrast with FromStrayToPet, where a stray animal is adopted. Compare to TheRunaway, StrayAnimalStory, and RaisedInCaptivity (for when a wild animal - like a bear or wolf - is raised in captivity and let go into the wild later on).

* In ''Animation/TheSeventhBrother'', a puppy is abandoned by his {{Jerkass}} owners (or, in the LighterAndSofter American version of the film, accidentally lost by his loving owners) and finds himself in a forest, where a family of rabbits [[HappilyAdopted adopt him.]] In a SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome, however, he eventually becomes weak from malnutrition since dogs can't live on a diet of plants, so the rabbits have to take him to a new human family (or, in the American version, reunite him with his original owners).

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->'''Duchess''': [=McKinley=], Lupin said all dogs are descendants of wolves.
->'''[=McKinley=]''': A long time ago, yes.
->'''Duchess''': Lupin says it wasn't ''that'' long ago. Anyway, she believes that it's time we stopped living with people. Time to be independent again, to get back to the wild the way we once lived. That's what she said. And it's what I'm thinking of doing.

* ''WesternAnimation/FlushedAway'' is about a pampered pet rat who is accidentally lost in the sewers of London.* ''WesternAnimation/LadyAndTheTramp''

* ''WesternAnimation/FlushedAway'' is about a pampered pet rat who is accidentally lost in the sewers of London.
* ''WesternAnimation/LadyAndTheTramp''

[[folder: Anime & Manga]]

[[folder: Film -- Animation]]

[[folder: Film -- Live Action]]

[[folder: Literature]]

[[folder: Live-Action TV]]

[[folder: Video Games]]

* ''WesternAnimation/FlushedAway'' is about a pampered pet rat who is accidentally lost in the sewers of London.* ''WesternAnimation/LadyAndTheTramp''

* ''WesternAnimation/FlushedAway'' is about a pampered pet rat who is accidentally lost in the sewers of London.
* ''WesternAnimation/LadyAndTheTramp''

* The start of ''Anime/GingaNagareboshiGin'' is a tale about a [[ABoyAndHisX a boy and his dog]], Gin. After a few episodes Gin joins a pack of feral dogs and the series changes focus to being about him.
* Blue from ''Anime/WolfsRain'' is a wolf-dog. She originally hunted wolves alongside her master, Quent Yaiden, however when she learned she was half-wolf [[HeritageFaceTurn she joined the wolves]]. Blue subverts the usual cliches as she has no issue living in the wild nor is she the lead.
* An episode of ''Anime/YokaiWatch'' revolves around Jibanyan helping a lost kitten named "Kitty" get back to its owners.

* In ''Fanfic/FireAndShadow'', Rusty is a pet kitten who is forced to join a cat colony in the forest. He gets attacked by [=ThunderClan=] cats (more specifically, Tigerclaw) while exploring and is narrowly saved by their rivals, [=ShadowClan=]. There's no way for Rusty to go back home besides going through their territory again and risking attack, so his best option is to stay with [=ShadowClan=]. Later Rusty, now called "Firepaw", has a chance to run back home but he decides to stay and help his friends evade an attack instead.
* ''Fanfic/WarriorsRedux'':
** The founder of [=ShadowClan=] was a molly named Rowena. She was a former pet who either ran away or was kicked out. Rowena's upbringing as a pet made her unusually caring but also quite naive, resulting in her getting taken advantage of several times. She was empathic and as a result she created a Clan full of the weak and the ostracized.
** Bluestar and Redtail have been studying Rusty for some time. When he wanders into their territory, they have Greypaw attack him as a test. Rusty passes the test and is asked to join [=ThunderClan=]. Rusty decides that since his owners only recently brought him that they aren't attached to him, so they'll [[ReplacementGoldfish move on quickly and get a new kitten]]. With that he joins [=ThunderClan=] the next night.
* In ''Fanfic/{{Paradise}}'', Celestia and Luna's father was a pony who escaped his abusive humans and joined a wild herd.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAristocats'': A molly cat and her kittens are left to die by a butler who is mad that their wealthy owner [[PetHeir gave her cats her inheritance and not him]]. Duchess and her children must find their way home with the help of a stray named Thomas O'Malley. Ultimately they return home and Thomas [[FromStrayToPet gets adopted too]].

* In ''Literature/{{Windrusher}}'', a cat named Tony is abandoned by his owners. In his effort to find them, he is nicknamed "Windrusher" by other animals.
* In ''Literature/TheCallOfTheWild'' a sled-dog named Buck ends up acting increasingly wild until he joins a wolf pack.
* ''Literature/VarjakPaw'' is about a kitten named Varjak who is forced to leave his pampered home in order to save his family. While Varjak is quite clueless about life outside his home, in many respects he quickly becomes more adept at living as a stray than his peers. While he doesn't know the social in's and out's of being a stray, Varjak is able to unlock the "Way" which allows him to hunt animals. Most of the stray cats in the city can't hunt and instead scavenge off of humans.
* ''Literature/{{Pax}}'': Pax, a fox domesticated most of his life, must learn to survive in the wild.
* ''Literature/SurvivorDogs'':
** A stray dog named "Lucky" (who was born a pet) manages to escape his enclosure at a pound after an earthquake. He finds out the humans have evacuated the area and left their pets behind. Lucky and several other abandoned dogs form a pack. The Leashed Pack, which eventually became the Wild Dogs pack, spent a long time trying to get used to the fact they'll never see their longpaws again. Sunshine, a Maltese and an Omega, was the most attached to hers and will likely never get over them.
** Sweet is a swift-dog (Greyhound) who lived as a racing dog until she was deemed too old. Instead of killing the dogs or giving them to shelters, the dogs were let loose into a pack. The rest of her pack died in the Big Growl.
* Marco from ''Literature/{{Guardian Cats And The Lost Books Of Alexandria}}'' is a pet cat who can read. After he becomes homeless, he meets a group of cats entrusted with guarding a group of mystical books. An elder chooses Marco as the next in-line to guard one of the most special books.
* ''Literature/{{Stray}}'':
** Pufftail spent his first few years as a pet cat but he was never comfortable with the routine of being a housepet. Eventually, he runs away after his old neighbor Major accidentally gives him the idea of abandoning his new owners. His brother Bootsie [[spoiler:was killed and couldn't accompany him]].
** June and Jim have a budgie named Henry. The one time June lets Henry out his cage, he ends up flying out an open window. No one is able to get him back, so he's left a free bird. Henry then killed by one of the cats a few hours later.
** Subverted with Tammy. After giving birth to Pufftail's kittens, she planned on running off to live with him. However, [[spoiler:she's hit by a car the night she tries to leave with Pufftail]].
* ''Literature/DogsOfTheDrownedCity'' stars a German Shepherd named Shep who, after a hurricane forces the humans to evacuate, has to leave his home and venture into the surrounding area. Along the way he befriends other dogs who are now on their own and tries to keep them safe during the storm.
* ''Literature/TheIncredibleJourney'' is about a Labrador Retriever named Luath, a Bull Terrier named Bodger, and a Siamese cat named Tao who get lost in the Canadian wilderness and must find their way back home. It and its 1963 film adaptation was the inspiration for the 1993 film ''Film/HomewardBoundTheIncredibleJourney''.
* ''Literature/TheGoodDog'':
** ''The Good Dog'' by Avi is about a Malamute named [=McKinley=] who meets a wolf named Lupin. Lupin is trying to persuade dogs to leave their owners and join her pack.
** Duchess is a greyhound who has ran away from her abusive owner more than once.
* ''Literature/{{Doglands}}'' by Tim Willocks is about a puppy named Furgul who is born into a camp for racing Greyhounds. When the owner finds out that Furgul is only half-Greyhound, he tries to kill him but Furgul escapes into the wild.

* The children's book ''Dear Hound'' is about a Deerhound puppy named Alfie who gets loose and gets lost in a forest. He survived on scraps of food from garbages and is helped by a pair of foxes until he returns home.
* ''Literature/TheLastDogs'' is a book tetralogy about humans leaving their pets behind because of an outbreak of a virus called Praxis. The main protagonist, a Labrador retriever named Max, sets out onto the streets and into the wilds (along with a dachshund named Rocky and a Yorkshire terrier named Gizmo) as they look for their humans and solve the Praxis mystery together.
* ''Literature/ADogsWayHome'' is about a dog named Bella who travels thousands of miles trying to find her way back to her owner Lucas. Throughout her nearly three year journey, Bella ends up living in the mountains with a cougar cub and getting caught by various humans who sidetrack her journey and take her to various states until she finds her way back home.
* ''Literature/WhiteFang'':
** It turns out that White Fang's grandmother had been a village dog that escaped into the wild, mating with a wolf and eventually having Kiche. Kiche herself lived with humans too before going into the wild, where she mates with One-Eye the wolf and gives birth to White Fang. Eventually, the trope is subverted, as Kiche returns to the village with her son.
** White Fang himself tries this the first time, but he suddenly feels scared being in the wilderness by himself and returns to the village. He tries again a second time, during a famine, and does well for himself before returning.
* Granite from ''Literature/ChildOfTheWolves'' is a husky puppy who escapes his new owner. He joins a wolf pack in the Alaskan wilderness.
* The Dogs' Guild in ''Literature/MenAtArms'' consists entirely of dogs that have run away from their owners. According to Gaspode, they are viewed with suspicion by dogs who were born on the streets, not because they're seen as soft, but because even dogs who've never had an owner recognise that running away makes you A Bad Dog.

* The player character in ''VideoGame/{{Cattails}}'' is a stray cat who was brought from a pet store as a kitten. The mother didn't like the cat so they abandoned it at the side of a road.

* In ''Webcomic/{{PRISMWING}}'', Indigo was kept in a bug container before she was set free, implying they were a former pet.

* Brandy Harrington (of the Florida Harringtons) from ''WesternAnimation/BrandyAndMrWhiskers'' is a pampered pet pooch who accidentally ends up in a rainforest instead of the luxurious spa she was supposed to be sent to.

* ''Animation/LeafieAHenIntoTheWild'' is about an abused hen living in a factory farm who one day manages to escape. She escapes to the local marsh and lives amongst the wild animals. Leafie ends up [[InterspeciesAdoption adopting a duckling]] after [[spoiler:his parents are killed by a local weasel]], and the film is mostly about her and her son Greenie.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Bolt}}'' is about a White Shepherd named Bolt who accidentally gets lost. Besides having no experience on his own, Bolt also believes he's a superhero due to being raised on a TV show since puppyhood. He befriends a stray cat named "Mittens" and a hamster named "Rhino" that help him survive. Ultimately Bolt returns to his owner and [[spoiler:his friends [[FromStrayToPet get adopted]] by her too]].
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheAristocats'' a molly cat and her kittens are left to die by a butler who is mad that their wealthy owner [[PetHeir gave her cats her inheritance and not him]]. Duchess and her children must find their way home with the help of a stray named Thomas O'Malley. Ultimately they return home and Thomas [[FromStrayToPet gets adopted too]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/BaltoIIWolfQuest'', Aleu is the only one of Balto and Jenna's puppies who is not adopted. This is due to the fact she looks more like a wolf than a dog (her father being a wolf-dog). She ultimately ends up leading a pack of wolves.
* ''WesternAnimation/FlushedAway'' is about a pampered pet rat who is accidentally lost in the sewers of London.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Rango}}'' is about a pet chameleon who gets lost in the desert and wanders into a Western town inhabited by {{Civilized Animal}}s. There he passes himself off as a tough guy and is made sheriff.
* In ''Animation/TheSeventhBrother'', a puppy is abandoned by his {{Jerkass}} owners (or, in the LighterAndSofter American version of the film, accidentally lost by his loving owners) and finds himself in a forest, where a family of rabbits [[HappilyAdopted adopt him.]] In a SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome, however, he eventually becomes weak from malnutrition since dogs can't live on a diet of plants, so the rabbits have to take him to a new human family (or, in the American version, reunite him with his original owners).

* ''Film/{{Cats}}'': Victoria in this version was abandoned as a kitten by her human owners before being taken in by the Jellicles.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSeventhBrother'', a puppy is abandoned by his {{Jerkass}} owners (or, in the LighterAndSofter American version of the film, accidentally lost by his loving owners) and finds himself in a forest, where a family of rabbits [[HappilyAdopted adopt him.]] In a SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome, however, he eventually becomes weak from malnutrition since dogs can't live on a diet of plants, so the rabbits have to take him to a new human family (or, in the American version, reunite him with his original owners).