History Main / StrayAnimalStory

* ''Discworld/MenAtArms'': One of the plotlines is [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler a short, flatulent poodle preaching how awesome wolves are to dogs who've run away from home.]]

Simple: make them feral or stray animals (domesticated animals without human owners). [[note]]Terminology wise, "feral" refers to a domestic animal who have reverted to a wild state and have little-to-no human socialization, while "stray" refers to tame pet animals who have no owners, such as pets who either got loose or were abandoned.[[/note]]

* ''Disney/LadyAndTheTrampIIScampsAdventure'' is about Lady's and Tramp's only son Scamp, who hates being a pet and wants to be a stray. He escapes his home, befriends a female puppy named Angel with the opposite views from him, and hangs out with a group of strays. Ultimately he decides being a pet is best and goes back home.

* ''Theatre/{{Cats}}'' is a musical about a tribe of feral cats. Whether they're FunnyAnimals or normal cats played by humans is [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation up for debate]].

* The ''Stick Dog'' series follows the eponymous stray stick figure dog and his friends on their quests to find and eat human food.

* There are some implications that the goats in ''Literature/ArashiNoYoruNi'' are domestic goats, such as Mei owning a scarf and the fact that they live near an abandoned barn.

-->--''Literature/{{Doglands}}''

* ''The Wild Road'' is about a pet kitten named Tag who begins having prophetic dreams. He leaves his home to go on a journey to fulfill the prophecies.

* ''Literature/{{Doglands}}'' by Tim Willocks is about a half-Greyhound puppy named Furgul born into a camp for racing Greyhounds. He runs away after the abusive owner tries to kill him. Furgul ends up living on his own from thereon. He gets [[StrayToPet taken in by humans]] temporarily but leaves less than a year later because he can't handle life as a pet. He wants to find the legendary "doglands"--a place where dogs roam free--and save the rest of the racing Greyhounds back home.

[[folder: Fan Works]]
* A significant amount of ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' fanworks about the Pokemon themselves revolve around wild Pokemon, usually in a forest environment.
[[/folder]]

* ''Literature/WarriorCats'' centers around entire societies of feral cats living in the wild and their interactions with each other/struggles against nature; the general consensus among the cats themselves is that HumansAreCthulhu and should be avoided whenever possible. "Kittypets" in ''Warriors'' are [[FantasticRacism looked down upon]] and some cats even consider them inferior. The series is considered the SpiritualSuccessor to ''Tailchaser's Song''.
* ''Literature/SurvivorDogs'', which is written by writers using Creator/ErinHunter's (the writers of ''Literature/WarriorCats'') PenName, is about feral dogs. A "Lone Dog" stray named Lucky who was staying at a pound manages to escape after an earthquake. He soon learns that all humans have exacuated the area and left their pets behind. Lucky ultimately forms a pack with a group of ex-"Leashed Dogs".

* In ''Literature/GuardianCatsAndTheLostBooksOfAlexandria'', a group of cats are enclosed with protecting a library of mystical books from evil hands. It stars a pet cat named Marco who becomes homeless and comes across the descendants of the original cats. An elderly cat named Cicero decides to take Marco as his trainee so that he can become the next protector of an important book.
* ''Stray'' by A.N. Wilson is a dark tale about a cat named Pufftail. It follows his life from a kitten to a grandfather. It shows Pufftail at different stages, from the various owners he's had to his time, being tested in a labratory, to his time on the streets.

* ''Literature/{{Doglands}}'' by Tim Willocks is about a half-Greyhound puppy named Furgul born into a camp for racing Greyhounds. He runs away after the abusive owner tries to kill him. Furgul ends up living on his own from thereon.

* ''Cattails'' is a SpiritualAdaptation of ''Literature/WarriorCats'' where you play as a feral cat in a colony.

* Subverted and deconstructed in ''Literature/ADogsPurpose''. The protagonist is born a stray who is taken in by humans at three months old. He goes through several reincarnations throughout the book. The book shows how unfortunate a dog's life can be as a stray. The protagonist decides that a dog's purpose in life is to be around humans and that a dog that lives without them will inevitably end up [[BrokenBird broken down, defeated, and straved]].

* ''Literature/ADogsLife'' is about a dog named Squirrel who was born in a shed. It goes into detail about her life as a feral dog from puppyhood to senior. [[spoiler:She's ultimately taken in by an elderly woman and renamed "Addie"]]. Unlike most examples, the story doesn't sugarcoat the life of a feral dog. Squirrel and the other dogs she meets are presented as suffering from malnutrition and frequent illness. Squirrel is constantly moving around and she gets into several fights with other starving dogs.

So you want to have a story about pet {{Nearly Normal Animal}}s or {{Partially Civilized Animal}}s. You want them to go on adventures and [[FreeRangeChildren run around]] without much issue. How can you do this if they're a pet? After all, pets have owners to come home to, if they're even allowed to leave their houses.

Simple: make them feral or stray animals (domesticated animals without human owners). [[note]]Terminology wise, "feral" refers to a domestic animal who have little-to-no human socialization, while "stray" refers to tame pet animals who have no owners, such as pets who either got loose or were abandoned.[[/note]]

[[AC: {{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]

[[AC: FanWorks]]

[[AC: {{Film}} -- Animation]]

[[AC: {{Film}} -- Live Action]]

[[AC: {{Literature}}]]

* Played with in ''Windrusher''. Tony (or "Windrusher" as other animals call him) is a cat who is abandoned by his humans. The plot revolves around him trying to get back to them.

* In ''Guardian Cats and the Lost Books of Alexandria'', a group of cats are enclosed with protecting a library of mystical books from evil hands. It stars a pet cat named Marco who becomes homeless and comes across the descendants of the original cats. An elderly cat named Cicero decides to take Marco as his trainee so that he can become the next protector of an important book.

* ''Catwings'' is about a stray city cat who gives birth to kittens who have wings.

* ''The Good Dog'' by Avi is about a Malamute named [=McKinley=] who meets a wolf named Lupin who is trying to persuade dogs to leave their owners and join her pack.
* ''Doglands'' by Tim Willocks is about a half-Greyhound puppy named Furgul born into a camp for racing Greyhounds. He runs away after the abusive owner tries to kill him. Furgul ends up living on his own from thereon.

[[AC: LiveActionTV]]

[[AC: {{Theatre}}]]

[[AC: VideoGames]]
* ''VideoGame/PokeParkWii'' stars wild Pokemon in an abandoned theme park.

[[AC: WesternAnimation]]

* The cartoon ''Foofur'' was about a group of stray animals (six dogs and a cat) living in the house previously owned by Foofur's owner.

This trope is a general staple of {{Xenofiction}}. It can be seen as the animal equivalent of ConvenientlyAnOrphan. Sometimes the protagonist will go FromStrayToPet at the end, though it's even more common for the main characters to start as pets who became strays (instead of being born feral).

So you want to have a story about pet {{Partially Civilized Animal}}s and {{Nearly Normal Animal}}s. You want them to go on adventures and [[FreeRangeChildren run around]] without much issue, but how can you do this if they're a pet? Pets have owners to come home to, if they're even allowed to leave their houses.

Simple: make them feral or stray animals (domesticated animals without human owners). [[note]]Terminology wise, "feral" refers to a domestic animal who have little-to-no human socialization, while "stray" refers to tame pet animals who have no owners, such as pets who got loose or were abandoned.[[/note]]

They don't need elaborate excuses to leave their owners, it won't seem weird how you [[InvisibleParents rarely mention their owner]], and they can do whatever they please unless the DiabolicalDogCatcher or some other [[HumansAreCthulhu antagonistic human]] comes along. You can even give feral animals their own societies, [[AnimalReligion religions]], and beliefs created due to their lack of human supervision.

* ''Literature/TailchasersSong'' is about several communities of feral cats. They see "m'an" as unpredictable and dangerous. The main lead is a tom named Tailchaser who goes on an adventure.

* The ''Dogs of the Drowned City'' series is about a German Shepherd named Shep. After a hurricane forces his human family to evacuate, Shep is forced to leave his home and venture out on his own. He ends up creating a pack with other dogs that he meets.

[[index]]

* The cartoon ''Foofur'' was about a group of stray animals (six dogs and a cat) living in the house previously owned by Foofur's owner.

[[/index]]

* Creator/RichardAdams' ''Literature/WatershipDown'' chronicles the exodus of some rabbits from their home in Sandalford Warren, past many dangers, until they arrived at the solitary elm tree atop a knoll, called Watership Down. Early printings even had footnotes detailing lapine customs and psychology.

* ''The Wild Road'' is about a pet kitten named Tag who begins having prophetic dreams. He leaves his home to go on a journey to fullfill the prophecies.

So you want to have a story about pet {{Partially Civilized Animal}}s and {{Nearly Normal Animal}}s? You want them to go on adventures and [[FreeRangeChildren run around]] without much issue but how can you do this if they're a pet? Pets have owners to come home to, if they're even allowed to leave their houses.

Simple: Make them feral or stray animals (domesticated animals without human owners). [[note]]Terminology wise, "feral" refers to a domestic animal who have little-to-no human socialization, while "stray" refers to tame pet animals who have no owners, such as pets who got loose or were abandoned.[[/note]]

Simple: Make them feral or stray animals (domesticated animals without human owners) [[note]]Terminology wise, "feral" refers to a domestic animal who have little-to-no human socialization, while "stray" refers to tame pet animals who have no owners, such as pets who got loose or were abandoned[[/note]]

* ''Literature/SurvivorDogs'', which is written by writers using Creator/ErinHunter's (the original writer of ''Literature/WarriorCats'') PenName, is about feral dogs. A "Lone Dog" named Lucky who was staying at a pound manages to escape after an earthquake. He soon learns that all humans have exacuated the area and left their pets behind. Lucky ultimately forms a pack with a group of ex-"Leashed Dogs".
* Played with in ''Windrusher''. Tony (or "Windrusher" as other animals call him) is abandoned by his humans and the plot revolves around him trying to get back to them.

* ''Literature/VarjakPaw'' is about a kitten who must leave his home and find a dog to protect his family after their owner dies.

* ''Literature/VarjakPaw'' is about a pampered pet kitten who is forced to venture outside in order to save his family. Varjak must learn to adapt to living on the streets. He ends up befriending several strays and also gets into trouble with a local gang of cats.