Dogs are getting stolen more often now. I thought it was strange when recently I saw three stories about the theft of dogs in as many days.
First, it was Lady Gaga.
As you’ve probably already heard, two of her three French Bulldogs were dognapped at gunpoint in LA’s West Hollywood area. Gaga’s dogwalker was shot in the chest during the theft and is currently recovering. Gaga, who was working on a movie in Italy, offered a $500,000 reward for the return of the pups.
The animals were found tied to a pole miles away. The woman who found them and brought them to the police is not suspected of being involved.
Then it was Kentucky.
February 24 at 10:59 PM, HENDERSON, Ky. (WFIE) – A warning is issued by a Tri-State animal control officer in regard to protecting your pets. Channel 14 News is learning dog thefts are massively on the rise. This is according to a recent social media post by Henderson Animal Control.
An Evansville woman told 14 News on the phone she believes they caught a man attempting to steal one of her foster dogs out of her backyard. “I just saw a hand reaching over the back fence,” Suzanne Wright shared. “And I thought that’s odd. People don’t typically do that. I went up there and said, ‘What are you doing?’ And he took off.”
Then it was the United Kingdom.
A woman developed a dog collar that locks to the waist belt of the human. “Petloc”, as it’s called, steel-reinforced and can only be severed with a bolt cutter. It was initially meant for peohttp://www.petloc.com/ple to lock their pup outside as they stop in a store, but demand for a dog-walking version took over importance in the brand.
People are so aware of the dognapping threat in the UK that there’s a movement to make harsher punishment for the crime. Currently, dognapping is seen as just the theft of property. It’s more like the kidnapping of your baby if you ask me! The UK government has said it is looking into changing the law.
Campaigners including the Stolen and Missing Pets Alliance have called for pet theft to be made a specific offense, with stiffer punishment than for the theft of property. The UK government has said it is looking at changing the law.
Why is dognapping on the rise?
The pandemic lockdown has made clear to everyone what we dog lovers already knew. Dogs are great company! The demand for dogs has sharply increased and the supply, or the number of dogs, is about the same, therefore the value of a dog has sharply increased. A thief can now sell a dog for twice what it was going for before the pandemic.
People magazine ran a story about a California woman whose French Bulldog disappeared. She was surprised when he was found more than 600 miles away in Mexico. The man from Tijuana said that he purchased the dog for $1,000 from someone selling him on the street.
Unfortunately, there are also reports of dognappers offering the dog back in return for ransom money or a re-homing fee. I’m sure there are many forces at work to make crime rise but could this trend possibly be a result of the pandemic-induced unemployment crisis? Whatever the cause, it’s turning into a more common way for some people to make money.
What can you do?
Advice from animal control includes the following tips:
- Never leave your dog alone outside even on your own property.
- Do not let young children walk your dogs.
- Make sure your dog is microchipped and the details are up to date.
I wrote a post a while back about a dog attacking mine during a walk. I think some of the same conclusions might apply here. Aside from the physical ways to ward off an attacking dog, there were products that could help. Pepper spray, an air horn, or a non-lethal stun-gun. Pepper spray can blowback on you. An air horn is attention-getting but can be ignored. The small stun-gun packs a punch and has a super loud siren so it was my choice for security on a walk/run.
List of the top 10 most frequently stolen dog breeds:
- Yorkshire terrier
- Pomeranian
- Maltese
- Boston terrier
- French bulldog
- Chihuahua
- Labradoodle
- Pitbull terrier
- German Shepherd
- Labrador retriever
