Dognapping

According to the Daily Mirror dognapping has increased by 20% in the last year. Its supposed to be worth
about £100,000.00 per year to the criminals and 2400 dogs were stolen over the last 24 months. The worst
area for dognapping is Kent where on average 2 dogs are taken each week (240 dogs stolen). No prizes for guessing which dog is the most targeted breed in all areas by a very high margin. They also say that more violence is being used by the dognappers and blackmail is also on the increase.

it's a worry but take sensible precautions. Don't advertise with a plaque or something on the front of your house that a Staffy lives there and just be wary of strange behaviour whilst out n about just like you would in a city centre on a night out.

I'm hopefull that Flo wouldn't go with anyone strange but would always keep a close eye on her anyways.

Its a problem here as well the Facebook pages are always flooded with photos of dogs and stories of theft.

I do think the figures may be a bit inflated as you never see a post saying dog "Escaped" or "I left the gate open and the dog got out" its always "Stolen dog".

And while we are on the subject someone left the front door open at our place last night and we hit panic mode when I got up at 5am and Harri was not in her bed, luckily she had walked into the bathroom and the door closed behind her so she had spent the night in the bathroom.

Cheers

RiV wrote:And while we are on the subject someone left the front door open at our place last night and we hit panic mode when I got up at 5am and Harri was not in her bed, luckily she had walked into the bathroom and the door closed behind her so she had spent the night in the bathroom. 

OMG heart in throat !!! Very lucky hey, what a relief !

Also look out for any changes in front of your house e.g chalk anywhere or a child's toy randomly placed, it's marking the house for dognappers

And still people leave them tied up outside shops.

Something that a lot of people do is to put their dog's name on their collar tag. If somebody calls your dog by it's name, it is more likely to go with them. Obviously a thief can follow you around and get to hear what you are calling your pooch but to advertise their name is just helping. My tags have my postcode and my telephone number on, together with the word MICROCHIPPED.

One of the other things that disturbed me was that some people were
reporting that they were aware that their dogs had been photographed before being stolen.                                     So this presumably means that dogs are stolen to order (much like cars).

I appreciate that it has to be taken in context, 2400 dogs presumed
stolen is a small percentage of dogs in this country, but I bet thats no comfort to anyone                                                   that has had their pet stolen. I know it would devastate me. Never hurts to be careful and aware.

The trainer I took Harry to when he was younger told me about a spate of dog stealing in
this area and she said not to leave Harry in the car in a crate as that made it easier for him
to be stolen.  Easier to break in the car and lift up a crate, not so easy to grab hold of a
dog.  Unfortunately she also pointed out that in the case of an accident, the Police/Fire
Service would be able to rescue a dog easier in a crate.  So its not as clear cut as you would hope.
She suggested if using a crate and you had to leave your car unattended, to put a cover over it
so nobody could see what bread of dog you had.

Very good point about names on dog tags/collars, and I
would never leave my dog tied up outside of a shop though some people do.

I got my dog collar from red dingo and i t asks my name phone number address and postcode it advises not to put your dogs name on a collar

i have never and would never leave a dog unattended anywhere, ever...particularly a Staff. When we had our first Staff back in the early 80's many were stolen for illegal dog fighting..the thought of which turns my stomach...dogs which weren't 'game' are used as bait dogs...Totally sickening.
As such, with a Staff, not only do you have to be an ambassador for the breed and set the best example when out and about (in a drama the Staff will ALWAYS be to blame), and never leave them alone in public..that means outside a shop for 2 secs or in the car...
I should be getting a puppy in the next couple of months and i will be paranoid of him escaping out of the garden or being pinched by some scumbag...I'm not a particularly violent person but if someone stole my pooch and i found them then one of us would end up in hospital.

funkyrimpler wrote:I'm not a particularly violent person but if someone stole my pooch and i found them then one of us would end up in hospital.

Plus one on that, i am exactly the same !!!

A sad story over here at the moment is about Bo a Staffy that was stolen 7 months ago and was found recently dumped on the side of the road with horrific injuries and returned to the family, even with vet care Bo passed away today.

On Alfie's Law FB page there is the story and photos Im not going to post them here but just a reminder to keep your dogs safe there is scum out there that prey on our Staffies.

Cheers