Re: Dog owners scared

Glad you like my Texie Boy...He's a stumpy tail Australian cattle/ staffy cross and he's 3. He loves people and other dogs and gets on with everybody. But he has a very protective side and is an excellent if very noisy guard dog. He's not a real big dog. Medium sized at the most. But he's as strong as an Ox, very fit and fast. My son was out with him one night. Tex had darted into a clump of bushes when a group of "not so useful" characters got a bit verbally abusive to Peter in the park. They didn't see Tex until he was on them. He didn't touch them but his growl alone was enough to send them running. We say almost every day how lost we'd be without him. I freely admit his is spoiled but we can't help it.

Re: Dog owners scared

Do not expect anybody has and less likely anybody will be convicted.

Raising awareness of the increases in this offence so that dog owners can take extra precautions to prevent it, without breaking the law.

Re: Dog owners scared

I am always sharing dog thefts on Facebook .
The idea is to make the dog too ‘hot’ to handle .

Re: Dog owners scared

Sometimes dogs are recovered .

https://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/1...raveller-site/

Re: Dog owners scared

I believe Nottingham are the first Police Force in the country to appoint a specific officer to deal with dog thefts.

I live in a very rural area but only at the weekend three men were arrested for attempted dog theft in a small town about 10 miles away. Back in the summer granddaughter's boyfriend's sheepdog was stolen and turned up at a vets in Somerset - he was chipped - as all dogs are supposed to be now. Details were uptodate and Murphy was returned to his owner.

Re: Dog owners scared

There was a report recently about lots of dogs being recovered from a travellers' camp. I don't remember hearing subsequently that anyone had been arrested or charged with dog theft. Probably impossible to identify which of the travellers was the culprit - so what do you do? Arrest the whole camp? That's how they get away with it. Then they move onto somewhere else and do it all over again.

Re: Dog owners scared

That is the best way to deal with this, working together to reduce the risk and increase chance of getting them back.

Re: Dog owners scared

That is true, Muddy.

I read recently about a young boy walking the family dog after school, and some b*****d threatened the kid and pinched his dog.

It worries me a lot now as local people are talking about some shady looking blokes seen kerb crawling around in a white van. They are suspected dog thieves apparently.
I don't know if anyone has noted their number plates, but very often these are stolen anyway.

As I said recently, I am getting a personal alarm now. They hopefully wouldn't like a heck of a noise to bring attention to themselves.

Re: Dog owners scared

I read a report a few weeks back about 37 stolen dogs found at a travellers camp too.

I received a sort of questionaire/form from the local cops last week about this. They finally are asking what dog lovers have been asking for years! They want to know if dogs should no longer be regarded as merely 'belongings.'

Once it dawns on them that our animals are like family to us and worth far more than a mboile phone being nicked, they are considering altering the sentences passed.
Perhaps in another 10 years they will have sorted it!

Re: Dog owners scared

Changing the times and route and keeping pet on a short lead all may help prevent a random crime by low life opportunists .