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A couple of years ago, I moved to a new neighborhood. It's actually a step up from where I lived. One thing I've noticed is folks over here are cavalier about their dogs being under their control. They think somehow their dog does not need a collar or to be on leash because they are "such good dogs".
It used to be at least once a week we would have a run in while going for our walk. Sometimes it was like you said, a free roaming dog with no collar. Other times, the owner was right there but not paying attention. We'd be across the street and their uncollared or unleashed dog would come running across the street after us. Then, because there is no leash or collar, they can't get control of their dog. My dog is in full growl and defense mode. It's kind of scary.
Once it was a large dog over 100 lbs (I don't remember the breed) came running at us. I almost had a heart attack. As I have a 9 lb dog, this is a scary thing for me. In that case, I diverted the dog with my voice.
I have had dog owners yell to me "Don't worry! He's friendly!" What they don't realize is my dog isn't--especially when a strange dog runs up to her out of nowhere.
There is one dog in my neighborhood who is out constantly. Never has a collar. He is a chihuahua mix. Sometimes I see him run across the large street where the school is. I cringe because the traffic can be heavy there. Once I chased him home and figured out where he lived. I yelled out to the house that their dog was out front. When the woman came to the window, she was really blase about it, like "no big deal". If that was me and I knew my dog had gotten out, I'd make sure it had a collar and I'd be working on whatever way it is getting out. I feel bad for this dog for having such stupid owners. I usually try to chase it home when I can. I would feel bad if something happened to it.
So, you see, I have had this experience multiple times. So many times that I have rerouted our walk so that we don't hit the problem streets. I find it irritating that I must change my walk because other people are not responsible with their pets.
Anyway, I think you did the right thing. It would be worse to see a stray dog get hit by a car than to let it roam the neighborhood. Hopefully, whoever owned it would contact the shelter to see if a dog had been brought there.
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