Dogs stolen to feed drug habit
17 Jul 2008 10:47
CRIMINAL gangs are becoming increasingly prepared to use violence to steal dogs.
According to Doglost there are more and more cases of gangs threatening owners with knives and even guns to steal rare or expensive animals.
Some will even resort to kidnapping. Just one example of this involved a Bulldog puppy and her owner who were snatched by thieves who threw them into the back of a van.
Bundled
The owner was walking six-month-old Ruby in the Wallasey area of the Wirral when they were bundled into a red S-registration vehicle by two men described as ‘dark-skinned’. They were driven about four miles and the owner was thrown from the van. A few days later the owner received a phone call from someone who said they had bought Ruby and realised that she had been stolen. The matter is in the hands of the police.
Doglost’s Jane Hayes said she had taken more than 100 calls in a week from owners of stolen dogs, some of whom had been subject to violent threats or actions. She said that part of the problem was that the police did not take dog thefts seriously.
“We have a few forces which have been working together with us recently and we’ve almost cut out dog theft from their areas as a result,” she said.
“There are two types of dog thief – professionals who travel around the country looking for working dogs such as Labradors, lurchers and terriers – and then the biggest increase which has been in the inner cities where it’s basically done for drug money. They see a dog tied up outside a shop, walk off with it and sell it round the corner in the local pub for £20, £30. Unfortunately these ones get more and more violent. They’re desperate for money so they’re attacking owners at knifepoint in parks in daylight.”
Ms Hayes said owners should make sure their animal is identifiable, through microchip or tattoo and vary their regular walking routes.