Dog Theft

bonny said:
Instead of just always sneering at me, prove it ! You say greyhounds are always being stolen, show me some cases where anyone was convicted ? I could get you any number of ex racers free, why steal one when lots are looking for a home ?
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Oh FFS, try actually reading what I wrote for a start..... I did not say that greyhounds are “always being stolen” at all ? As for convictions, what a laugh, dog theft is hardly high on the agenda for our massively under-resourced under-funded police nowadays.....
 
bonny said:
Instead of just always sneering at me, prove it ! You say greyhounds are always being stolen, show me some cases where anyone was convicted ? I could get you any number of ex racers free, why steal one when lots are looking for a home ?
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Convictions are rare with dog theft. I think the Greyhound/Lurcher rescue centres are fully aware of certain types that come sniffing around and give them short shrift.
 
Levrier said:
Oh FFS, try actually reading what I wrote for a start..... I did not say that greyhounds are “always being stolen” at all ? As for convictions, what a laugh, dog theft is hardly high on the agenda for our massively under-resourced under-funded police nowadays.....
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You said, “dogs like mine - lurches and greyhounds will always be stolen as working dogs “....so you just wanted to say yet again how I know nothing and you are an expert but you have nothing to back up your assumptions at all ? There are many more greyhounds bred to race that ever find a home when they retire so why not tell us all why anyone would steal yours when there are so many looking for homes ?
 
bonny said:
You said, “dogs like mine - lurches and greyhounds will always be stolen as working dogs “....so you just wanted to say yet again how I know nothing and you are an expert but you have nothing to back up your assumptions at all ? There are many more greyhounds bred to race that ever find a home when they retire so why not tell us all why anyone would steal yours when there are so many looking for homes ?
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Ah a nice manipulation of what I said there ? Bless you, you do like to prove you are clever.

And yet again, another misquote...I said dogs LIKE mine are stolen - nobody would steal my dogs because I take measures to prevent that. So I have nothing to explain to you or anyone else.

And as for why other greyhounds and lurchers are stolen, I’d have thought that was blindingly obvious - because they are there, handy, accessible, easy to steal - that’s what opportunist thieves look for.
 
bonny said:
You said, “dogs like mine - lurches and greyhounds will always be stolen as working dogs “....so you just wanted to say yet again how I know nothing and you are an expert but you have nothing to back up your assumptions at all ? There are many more greyhounds bred to race that ever find a home when they retire so why not tell us all why anyone would steal yours when there are so many looking for homes ?
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Probably because the homes are checked by the charities/trainers who wish to rehome, they don't just let them go to any-one who says they fancy one. If they are looking to rehome a racing greyhound they want it to go to a good trustworthy home and they charge a rehoming fee. It's easier and cheaper to take someone else's dog. And as for working dogs, if they are wanted for working, it's easier and cheaper to steal a dog than train it yourself.
 
Levrier said:
Ah a nice manipulation of what I said there ? Bless you, you do like to prove you are clever.

And yet again, another misquote...I said dogs LIKE mine are stolen - nobody would steal my dogs because I take measures to prevent that. So I have nothing to explain to you or anyone else.

And as for why other greyhounds and lurchers are stolen, I’d have thought that was blindingly obvious - because they are there, handy, accessible, easy to steal - that’s what opportunist thieves look for.
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You know, you are really not worth saying anything to, it’s Boxing Day and you take such pleasure in being rude to me.....the thread is about dog theft, it’s not of huge importance, let’s just agree to disagree
 
ester said:
Still not sure where anyone has been scaremongering though? That’s a pretty harsh accusation
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The same as with the threads on horse theft, these threads make it seem like theft of either is common in the uk where the official figures just don’t back that up. I’ve been away googling free to good home dog adverts and there is no shortage of them and certainly there are many more greyhounds looking for homes than there are homes looking for them. The real problem is the number of people taking on dogs who lose interest in them, over breeding and people who frankly just shouldn’t own any animal. According to the dogs trust 47,000 unwanted dogs were found last year and 5000 were pts. Like I said before if I owned a young popular (expensive breed) I would be vigilant but otherwise, yes, I think it’s scaremongering to suggest your dog is likely to be targeted by thieves.
 
Ah you see I say completely the opposite thing about horse theft, who wants a horse to offload.
But as stated there is plenty of evidence of dog theft near me. I can provide more links if that helps, perhaps it is area specific? They’re taken by people who wouldn’t be a ‘good home’, and wouldn’t be bothered to give the impression that they were but think they can move them around sell them on for a bit.

Which figures are you looking at, presumably they are different to those provided by skinny dipper in her first post? If so sources would be helpful so we can see what might be most accurate.
 
Ok so the figures SD mentioned came via FOI requests from police forces, although some don't keep the data, obviously it could indicate greater reporting but that would only mean that it was happening the same amount before, not that the quoted figures aren't real.
 
It may not be likely to happen, any more than my house is likely to be burgled but I lock up when I go out and if I am the one in so many thousands to have my dogs stolen I will never get over it. Reason enough to make as sure as possible it cannot happen and to make other dog owners aware it can and does happen, far too often for any complacency. It has nothing to do with the bad breeders/bad owners problem or the number of abandoned dogs.
 
This is quite helpful I think (communication piece extract from the paper's first author)

Full paper available here:
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/9/5/209

Over the years, stolen dog figures have been collected by insurance companies and charities and shared by the media, helping to raise awareness of the growing issue. These statistics, however, are always incomplete as police forces do not use a standardised approach to recording pet theft.
This means that gathering data from crime recording systems can be time consuming and expensive. The FOI response from Police Scotland, for example, states their systems “do not offer the capability to search according to property stolen”; this is much the same for police forces in Wiltshire, Hampshire and Sussex.
My forthcoming study, which includes complete FOI statistics for 39 of 44 police forces in England and Wales, found that recorded dog theft crimes rose from 1,545 in 2015 to 1,849 in 2018 – a rise of nearly 20%. Meanwhile, there was a fall in charges related to dog theft crimes: 64 in 2015 to 20 in 2018 – a reduction of nearly 70% (68.7%).
In 2018, the police forces with the most dog theft crimes were: Metropolitan (London) (256), West Yorkshire (167), Greater Manchester (145), Merseyside (117), and Kent (108). But overall, only 1% of dog theft crime cases investigated resulted in a charge in England and Wales.


Paper abstract
Dogs are considered property under U.K. law, while owners generally regard their canine companions as family. Reports that the number of stolen dogs in England and Wales rose from 1788 in 2016 to 1909 in 2017 led to public calls to change the law. Recognising that a more robust analysis of dog theft crime statistics is required, we gathered dog theft data for 2015, 2016, and 2017 from 41 of 44 police forces. This paper examines how dog theft crime statistics are constructed, assesses the strengths and weaknesses of these data, and categorises, maps, and measures dog theft changes temporally per police force in England and Wales. Our findings reveal there has been an increase in dog theft crimes, with 1559 thefts in 2015, 1653 in 2016 (+6.03%), and 1842 in 2017 (+11.43%), and a decrease in court charges related to dog theft crimes, with 64 (3.97%) in 2015, 51 (3.08%) in 2016, and 39 (2.11%) in 2017. The actual number of dog theft crimes will be higher as three forces could not supply useable data. There is a need for a qualitative study to understand dog theft crime in different parts of the country, and a standardised approach to recording dog theft by all police forces in England and Wales. We recommend classifying dog theft (or pet theft more generally) as a crime in itself under the Sentencing Guidelines associated with the Theft Act 1968.
 
planete said:
It may not be likely to happen, any more than my house is likely to be burgled but I lock up when I go out and if I am the one in so many thousands to have my dogs stolen I will never get over it. Reason enough to make as sure as possible it cannot happen and to make other dog owners aware it can and does happen, far too often for any complacency. It has nothing to do with the bad breeders/bad owners problem or the number of abandoned dogs.
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Your house could well be a target, it’s full of items that are worth money and easy to sell, I doubt your dog, if you have one, is either.
 
Levrier said:
This makes me wonder whom exactly was “falling out” with whom?

If you post factually inaccurate statements as if they are the truth on a public Internet forum - as you are wont to do - then you can expect to be challenged on them.[/QUOTE
I deleted my reply because you just aren’t worth it and it just gives you something else to sneer at .....
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Levrier said:
and so are you - your statement is factually WRONG for goodness sake!!! Yet you state it like it is undeniable??!! Just amazing....

Try telling the owner of an adult stud dog that has been stolen that it has no value.... or an adult bitch which can be turned into a puppy producing machine....
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If I wanted to steal a puppy producing machine, as you put it, I would take a young female that chances are hadn’t been neutered yet. People do pay stupid money for popular breeds but most adult dogs are pets, commonly neutered and worth very little hence the number of ads where people are trying to give them away.
 
And where exactly are your stats to show that most stolen dogs are pets? That’s another massive assumption you have made.... my simple observations of adverts on social media and the like is that most stolen dogs are working or show stock, hence they are worth a lot of money as an adult or - to point out the absolutely obvious - the thieves wouldn’t bother taking them.

I’m done with this, there is no point ?
 
Levrier said:
And where exactly are your stats to show that most stolen dogs are pets? That’s another massive assumption you have made.... my simple observations of adverts on social media and the like is that most stolen dogs are working or show stock, hence they are worth a lot of money as an adult or - to point out the absolutely obvious - the thieves wouldn’t bother taking them.

I’m done with this, there is no point ?
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Didn’t I say that 4 hours ago !
 
bonny said:
Your house could well be a target, it’s full of items that are worth money and easy to sell, I doubt your dog, if you have one, is either.
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I can't keep up with all this nonsense and I am short of time this morning but I just want to say that everyone's pet is of value to them regardless of monetary cost.

Dogs that you regard as not worth any money could be used by dog fighters and that is a concern for any caring owner.
 
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skinnydipper said:
I can't keep up with all this nonsense and I am short of time this morning but I just want to say that everyone's pet is of value to them regardless of monetary cost.

Dogs that you regard as not worth any money could be used by dog fighters and that is a concern for any caring owner.
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Of course to most owners their dog is priceless, money came into it because Planete was comparing the risks of a house being burgled and a dog being stolen. Like a lot of threads on here they go off at a tangent but we should be able to discuss anything on here without resorting to personal insults. It doesn’t actually matter a jot whether I think dog theft is a big issue or not but I think anyone’s views are equally valid or should be !
 
bonny said:
we should be able to discuss anything on here without resorting to personal insults. It doesn’t actually matter a jot whether I think dog theft is a big issue or not but I think anyone’s views are equally valid or should be !
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If you make ridiculous statements then you should expect that people will respond to them.
 
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bonny said:
Of course to most owners their dog is priceless, money came into it because Planete was comparing the risks of a house being burgled and a dog being stolen. Like a lot of threads on here they go off at a tangent but we should be able to discuss anything on here without resorting to personal insults. It doesn’t actually matter a jot whether I think dog theft is a big issue or not but I think anyone’s views are equally valid or should be !
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The views of any poster are only valid if they are based on fact/experience. It is no good my stating on here that grass is pink, when everyone knows that it is green. I would be posting simply to start an argument.
 
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