Dog thefts have elevated throughout the UK amid a plea to potential house owners to solely ever purchase from respected breeders.
Police figures counsel that not less than 2,290 dogs have been stolen final 12 months, a 6% improve on 2022.
Just one in six (16%) have been discovered and returned efficiently, the bottom degree since insurer Direct Line began monitoring the info in 2015.
English Bulldogs, French Bulldogs and XL bullys have been probably the most continuously stolen breeds, whereas the Metropolitan Police registered probably the most thefts, with 359 dogs reported lacking throughout London, adopted by Kent Police (138) and West Yorkshire Police (125).
English Bulldogs and ‘Frenchies’ are often marketed for round £3,000, that means criminals can safe giant sums for these animals, Direct Line mentioned.
Beverley Cuddy, the editor of Dogs Today journal, a patron of Stolen and Missing Pets Alliance and founding father of canine homing web site Bark Angel, mentioned: “Sadly, dog theft is still obviously very attractive to callous thieves, as figures show it being up 6% on last year. Shockingly in 2023 almost three quarters of pet owners didn’t get their stolen pets back.
“The Theft Act still treats this crime as no more significant than the theft of a mobile phone – so all our pets are at risk of abduction.
“We can make it harder for impulsive criminals by never leaving our dogs tied up outside shops and protecting them when at home. Statistics show most are stolen from our own gardens. The Pet Abduction Bill will hopefully punish dog thefts more severely, but more needs to be done to change the way dogs are treated as mere commodities by the law.”
Anne Maynard, from Chalfont St Peter in Buckinghamshire, whose feminine grownup Jack Russell named Mouse went lacking throughout a walk at a neighborhood golf membership on the morning of December 3 final 12 months, mentioned her disappearance had “absolutely devastated” the household.
Extensive and repeated searches by members of the native and wider group, a consistently up to date Facebook web page and posters with footage of Mouse have up to now failed to show up any hint of her, however Mrs Maynard mentioned the household would by no means hand over.
She mentioned: “It’s changed our lives completely. You can’t give up. We have no closure. We don’t sleep properly. We get crank calls from people in the middle of the night saying, ‘We’ve got your dog’ and then they put the phone down and we can’t get back to sleep.
“It’s a life sentence. She’s part of our family”
Addressing the person who might need her, Mrs Maynard mentioned: “They have to do the right thing. She’s a beautiful dog, but she’s not theirs, she’s ours.
“All they have to do is put her somewhere she will be found. No questions asked. She wouldn’t give up on us, so we’re not going to give up on her.”
