doggiemom, you wonderful person, I read every word of your post. That stray dog is lucky to have someone like you waiting for the adoption time to come up. I found our little male sheltie 12 yrs ago in similar circumstances...wandering in poor condition with rope burns around his neck. In phoning around to try to find his owner, I was advised to take him to the animal pound...but , no way, I recognized what a sweet dog he was & we already had another sheltie. No owner was found, so he's lived with us for 12 years . He's elderly, in good health, but completely blind so we have everything set up so he's safe & happy. We even carry him up and down the stairs he can't see any more. He's the most loving little dog we've ever had.
While animal refuges can look depressing, many of them try to do the best by the animals. I'm currently working along with a local animal shelter on behalf of a rescue groups & the refuge manager couldn't be more caring, flexible & efficient. Which means we can do great things for the dogs.
But I agree with you. Once you've seen dogs in an animal refuge, you feel determined to save them in some way. I think there are many ways of helping, like volunteering to do some tasks for a shelter, working with a rescue group, helping spread the word about the dogs' needs, making donations & helping with fund-raising etc.
Also I think all activities that prevent dogs turning up in pounds are useful, too, like supporting desexing programs, having identification discs on dogs, educating about responsible pet ownership, helping spread the word about dogs needing adoption etc.
I think your post about your experience with this lovely dog will contribute to helping dogs in need...because you are reminding people of those needs & encouraging them to give priority to adopting from an animal shelter.
Best wishes & please keep us up-to-date with what happens.