Stealing pets

I live on the outskirts of a city and all dog owners have been warned to keep an eye on then whenever outside even in the garden. There have been distraction thefts when someone rings the front doorbell and an accomplice breaks into the back garden to steal the dog. They are not local people, one lot were traced to a Reading travellers' site. They were visiting the city and surrounding areas at weekends pretending to offer to cut down trees, tarmac drives but their main aim was to steal dogs.

They seem to plan the theft, know the vulnerabilities. Locks have been cut, hedges and fences broken, and the dog leaves quietly so it must be drugged beforehand.

They leave devastated families behind who keep looking for their dog everywhere for a long time.

Beware of any stranger who calls to offer to do work on your property. I use an intercom to speak to anyone I don't expect, they don't usually like it as they want to see me and a glance inside my home.

We have a lovely young ‘Heinz 57’ dog, a rescue, neutered and chipped. I think people steal dogs for many reasons: to sell, to ransom, to use as bait dogs in dog fighting, to use as food or to breed from on those terrible puppy farms. Some people are just sadistic.

I am astounded by the number of ‘caring’ dog owners who believe it’s safe to leave a dog tied up outside a shop or inside their car. Dogs have been stolen from both places.

A dear little three legged dog was stolen from near us, he was tied up outside a shop, can’t believe that anything good happened to him I’m afraid.

I was told that this is all far more prevalent than people believe because police do not collate figures across the country or even within a borough or local area. Perhaps a Gransnet action into this?

I don’t leave our dog with many people, and I would rather not go out than leave him somewhere that I considered unsafe. ?

Only recently
near where I live a man was walking his dog which incidentally he shows was attacked with a substance in the face when men tried to steal his dog unfortunately the dog got it as well, needless to say they didn't get the dog. The up come of it all was the owner went to hospital the dog to the vets and his wife had a minor heart attack. ??

A friend took their two dogs to a local country park. The dogs were running around and were out of sight for a few minutes, they were called and the younger dog came back but the other has never been seen again. They were both pedigree dogs. The only thing they notice that there was a van parked by the gate where they came in which drove off quickly afterwards. It at the time they didn't think anything of it. She was devastated and did all she could to find it but has never had any success. Heartbreaking.

I really feel for the persons who lose their pets this way.
I live in a rural/ coastal area and folk are very friendly and appear to be trusting ! To trusting from what I have observed and what really concerns me is how these friendly trusting folk can tie up their dogs outside a shop while their owners are inside.Has anyone else experienced this.?

It is terrible, but there are so many warnings about dogs being tied up outside shops and supermarkets, a;lso left in back gardens alone, anyone should be able to do this,but just not safe these days
Also the new law about microchipping seems to have been ignored by many owners, and so cannot be returned to owners often
I read last week that dogs are even being stolen by moped riders. by stopping and cutting the dogs lead and grabbing them,
Vets dont always check for chips either
I cant bear the thought of losing my little dog, so never leave her anywhere, nor trust anyone else to walk her,. some have gone missing when with dog walkers

Oh. These people are worse than scum!!

Exactly what I was told, Jane10 they're used as bait - particularly the fiesty, terrier types.

Sadly these b*******s use other dogs to train their fighting dogs. It's unbelievably sickening.
Pedigree breeders will often make sure their pups and kittens are neutered before selling. This is to protect bloodlines. and

I think it’s more about breeding and selling MissAdventure , only a few breeds ar3 suitable for dog fighting but these small designer dogs fetch hundreds now

Loads of animals are stolen around me, very rural, and even some tortoises that were locked in have been taken from local college, it is a worrying and frightening trend and of course police stretched to invisibility in the countryside.

I was told that dog fighting is now a popular pastime, so that may account for some dogs going missing.
Horrible!

Not sure it's happening more but with social media I think it’s being shared more

I agree it seems to be happening so much now
I don’t do twitter but FB has stolen dogs advertised everyday sometimes whole litters of puppies taken out of gardens or from break ins or even on walks if off a lead
There usually seems to be a white van involved

It's an awful thing to do and no doubt causes the owners much pain and worry. Slightly off subject, I do wish they'd catch this person known as "The Croydon Cat Killer" who has extended his/her killing ground to other parts of the country it seems. What a horrible person/s they must be to decapitate these poor cats and leave them displayed so the owner will find them like that