Not sure what you'd mean about they are looking at you differently. Much depends on where you live and what the circumstances are.
For example .. Feeding deer (or any wild animal) in your back yard, encourages them to depend on the food, and causes them to not look for food in the wild. THIS causes other problems now because those wild animals are now encouraged to stay and could plausibly cause circumstances where they might conflict with other residents (of the human variety). Nothing more heartbreaking then to see an animal euthanized because of conflict with 'society'.
On the otherhand, if this is a domesticated dog or cat .. That is neglected or lost .. THAT is a different matter. They don't have the same ability to feed themselves in the wild. They are already dependant upon human interaction. If this is the case .. Then, you need to take steps to help that animal in distress. Feeding it is only a small portion of providing 'help'.
Don't ever let 'doing the right thing' be discouraged by other peoples opinion.