You experiences with strays

So far I only have two experiences:

 #1 - I was walking Charlie and saw this bassett hanging around on the corner, he had tags, etc. so I called, the owner (who lived two houses away) didn't even realize he had gotten out came outside and got him.

#2 Our teenage neighbor, who we didn't know very well, comes to the door and says, "here's your dog, he got out" and shoved a dog into the house and walked away (BTW the dog didn't look anything like Charlie).  Well, Charlie started to go crazy because this strange dog is now in our mud room.  The dog didn't bark but was jumping around like a jumping bean, no tags, looked somewhat thin and had super super long nails.  Well, there I am 7 months pregnant, my dog is freaking out and there is a stray in my mud room (him and Charlie were separated) and it was literally 20 degrees below zero.  I called animal control because there was no way I wanted to get close to the dog, he couldn't stay at our house, and I couldn't put him out in the cold.  Animal control couldn't come for a couple of days so I called the police explained that I was pregnant etc.  They came in about 3 minutes.  I felt bad that I couldn't do anything else, but there was no way I could take any chances. 

You know, that whole "can't come until....." thing with Animal Control really ticks me off.  It happens here a bunch.  I've trapped 3 dogs in my fenced in yard at different times and called AC.  Twice it was during the weekday business hours.  I got "Can you keep him there a few days?  We can't get anyone out there for a while."  WTF???   If I called and said it was attacking neighborhood children, would they come out faster?  In each case, I had to let them go wandering off hoping that they'd find their way home.  I couldn't get ahold of the dogs (growling and acting like they'd bite) couldn't leave them in my yard for days, and had a male dog that was aggressive towards other males (these were intact males each time).  I can't imagine they (AC) are super busy, I see their paddy wagon parked at McDonald's near my house ALL. THE. TIME.  It infuriates me!  But then again, the general consensus among animal professionals in this county is that the place needs to be shut down, reorganized and start all over again because right now, it's a disaster.  We've got cops fleeing the county over pay and budget issues, I'm not surprised AC couldn't give a flip about doing their job!