Dognapping Can Happen To Anyone
This article was in the Indy newspaper yesterday.It can serve
as a good reminder to everyone, me included. Smokey is so very
friendly, he'd be so easy to steal away. :(
Dognapped!
Theft of pups and adult dogs is a common occurrence.
Protect pets
Here are ways to protect your pet, according to Last Chance for Animals, a nonprofit animal-protection organization based in Los Angeles:
• Keep your pet indoors, especially when you are not at home. Do not leave your pet unattended outdoors.
• If your pet does stay outdoors, padlock your gate.
• Make sure your pet is not visible from the street.
• Properly identify your pet with a collar and tag, microchip and tattoo.
• Know where your pet is at all times.
• Maintain up-to-date licenses on your pet.
• Be aware of strangers in the neighborhood.
• Do not tie your pet outside a store to wait for you.
• Never leave an animal unattended in a car.
By Alex Branch
Knight Ridder Newspapers
September 30, 2003
FORT WORTH, Texas -- As Tamara Howard napped in her bedroom recently, a thief crept through her unlocked back door and stole seven puppies from her living room.
The English bulldogs, which are difficult to breed, were valued at $1,500 to $2,000 apiece.
"They never made a sound," Howard said. "I just got up, and they were gone."
Police say the dogs' value makes Howard's case unusual, but she has plenty of company among owners who have become victims of dog thefts.
"It's something that we definitely know is going on," said Fort Worth Police Detective Tracy Tillerson, who is investigating Howard's case.
Nationally, about 2 million pets, the majority of them dogs, are stolen annually, according to Last Chance for Animals, a nonprofit protection organization based in Los Angeles.
"It's a big problem," said Chris DeRose, Last Chance president and lead investigator. "But unfortunately, most people don't realize it until they become a victim of it."
Few statistics available
Local figures are hard to come by because most cases are classified simply as thefts, not dog thefts, police said.
But breeders say protecting pets is a concern for dog owners. And the Humane Society of North Texas has installed cameras and stronger locks because dogs have been stolen from its facilities.
Stolen dogs, investigators say, are tough to track down, mostly because dogs often look alike.
Which leaves dog owners like Howard frustrated.
Howard's English bulldog, Kisses, had given birth to the litter of puppies seven weeks before they were stolen.
Young English bulldogs can sell for more than $1,000 because they're difficult to mate, the puppies often must be delivered by Caesarean section, and they require extensive veterinarian care.
Offered online
Howard had offered the pups for sale on an Internet site.
She said she was napping in her home in Fort Worth on Sept. 2, while her daughter was in school.
When Howard awoke, the puppies were gone.
"I looked everywhere and under everything. I ran outside and found my gate unlatched," she recalled. "I couldn't believe someone had just walked in and taken them."
She called the police. Soon after, an anonymous caller claimed to have seen someone selling the puppies at a flea market in Cleburne, Texas.
Tillerson said she is pursuing the tip, but she questions whether they were Howard's puppies. The sellers reportedly were advertising the puppies as baby pit bulls; anyone with a general knowledge of dogs would know the difference, she said.
Pit bulls are the most commonly stolen dogs, authorities said.
Most often, authorities believe, the thieves train them for fighting.
Some thieves may sell the dogs, sometimes at flea markets, Tillerson said. But without papers documenting a dog's pedigree, it would be difficult to sell it for its full value.
But thieves can sell pets to big commercial breeding operations known as " puppy mills," or to research laboratories, DeRose said.
Earlier this month, Arkansas authorities seized 125 dogs, many stolen from homes in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri. The dogs were seized from a man suspected of selling them to research firms for between $200 and $800.
Culprits are quick
Thieves will take dogs from yards, cars, homes or anywhere pet owners have them tethered, he said.
"All it takes these people is a few seconds," DeRose said. "If they see an opportunity, they take it. They'll reach into your back yard."
Keeping dogs in secure locations is the best defense, said Tammy Hawley, executive director of the Humane Society of North Texas.
But owners should take other precautions. Most veterinarians will implant microchips, which help track missing dogs. Also, owners can have dogs tattooed, and the American Kennel Club offers DNA registration.
Owners also should photograph pets and keep prints in a secure place, such as a safe- deposit box, Hawley said.
"The fact is that this stuff happens, and it's better to be ready if it does," she said.
