Hot Dog! How to Put Dog Thieves on the Run!

There are several practical things we can do to prevent dog theft: (1) never leave your dog unattended; (2) microchip your dog; (3) use social media discreetly; (4) leave the tv and lights on when you leave your dog alone at home; and (5) keep up-to-date photos.

Recently my wife and I were eating at Lash’s Seafood, our favorite restaurant in Florence, Alabama. By the way, they have amazing Gulf Shrimp!

When I went to pay our bill, I noticed two flyers tacked on the wall advertising beautiful dogs that were lost.

As I read the flyers, my gut feeling was that these two dogs were stolen.

Being a canine owner myself, my heart goes out to the owners of these two pups. I can just imagine the thoughts running through their minds as they deal with their daily lives without their pups.

I feel for them as they hope and pray that their dogs will be found or returned.

It’s estimated that over 2 million dogs are stolen each year in the United States.

The concept of stealing someone’s dog is beyond my comprehension. How could a person walk off with a family pet that’s adored and loved and displace him into a strange environment for unhealthy and immoral purposes?

Having your dog stolen will bring you heartache for years to come.

In an earlier article that I wrote entitled “Our Old Yeller: (And How to Deal with Pet Loss)” I dealt with how to adjust to pet grief.

However, you experience a different type of grief when your pet is stolen.

When your canine friend crosses over the rainbow bridge, you’re able to find closure. But, when your pup is stolen, there’s no closure.

There are several reasons why depraved minds lure “man’s best friend” away from the security of a good home.

An Infographic

Why Thieves Steal Dogs

Money

Money is the prime reason why people steal dogs, especially when it comes to designer dogs that wear a hefty price tag.

Known as “Dog Flipping,” thieves steal designer dogs and then sell them at a very reduced price to make a quick profit.

Because the only thing they have invested is their time, the payment they receive is pure profit! 

For example, the going rate of a Cavapoo is $1,500-$3,000.

When a dognapper offers to sell the dog for $500, the client may think he’s getting a real bargain. A bargain that he cannot turn down!

And the thief walks away with a bundle of cash!

To Claim a Reward for the “Lost” Dog

Thieves also steal dogs hoping that owners will post sizable rewards. Thieves will then return the dog to the owner and collect the reward, pretending to have found the dog!

Again, money is the root cause of stealing canines. 

Back to my opening comments about the two dogs that are missing.

One of the owners is offering a $1500 reward!

If the dog was stolen, the thief could return the pup and collect the money for a hefty payday!

To Supply Dogs to Illegal Breeders

Designer dogs are sold to puppy mills for the purpose of breeding.

Spots.com offers a wide array of statistics regarding puppy mills.

For example, it’s reported that 7,000 illegal puppy mills operate in the United States. 

In these puppy mills, there’s no concern for the dog’s physical wellbeing.

The overriding factor is the continual production of puppies to sell.

How lucrative is this?

Imagine that one pup can have a litter of 15 puppies. Just selling puppies for $500 each will bring a huge profit to thieves. 

What happens to dogs that can no longer produce an offspring?

They’re euthanized, drowned, or shot. 

Stolen to Train Fighter Dogs

Though dog fighting is a felony in all 50 states in the U.S., it’s a big sport in some countries.

It’s a bloody, inhumane event involving aggressive dogs placed in pits to fight other canines to the death.

Training these dogs involve the use of “Bait Dogs.” 

These canines are usually stolen from homes or obtained from pet shelters under the guise of providing safe and healthy environments.

Thieves also answer ads about dogs that are “free to good homes.”

Instead of supplying a caring and loving home, they use the dogs to offer entertainment for blood thirsty crowds.

Practitioners of dog fights are on the lookout for mild-mannered canines to “feed” aggressive dogs to give them the taste of blood and to test their strength for future fights.

Peta offers an eye-opening review of what is involved in this horrific activity.

Every dog used in this manner is mistreated and abused, to say the least. 

Stolen to Be Used for Research in Animal Laboratories

Pet-theft rings steal dogs and sell them to certain Class B Dealers, who in turn sell the dogs to animal laboratories to be used to test the safety of drugs, medical devices, and pesticides.

These unfortunate pups are also used for biomedical research and at times are bred to have a fatal disease or even operated on to produce symptoms of heart disease for additional experimentation.

After testing is completed, these dogs are usually killed so that their organs and tissues can undergo further screening.

Warnings of stolen animals being sold to laboratories for testing goes all the way back to 1966 when Life magazine published “Concentration Camps for Lost and Stolen Pets: Your Dog is in Cruel Danger.”

On August 24, 1966, the Animal Welfare Act was signed into law to regulate the use of animals in testing facilities.

There are two categories of dealers that supply dogs for research use.

Class A dealers are licensed and governed by the USDA.

These dealers use dogs that are bred specifically for research purposes.

Licensed Class B dealers buy dogs from random sources like auctions, newspaper ads, animal shelters and hunters.

Because these dogs came from “random sources,” the USDA couldn’t guarantee that they hadn’t been stolen.

In 2021, The Pet Safety & Protection Act finally ended USDA licensed Class B Dealers from selling stolen dogs to animal research facilities.  

A Couple of Additional Reasons Why Dogs are Stolen

Dogs are stolen for other reasons as well.

For example, some steal a beautiful, expensive breed of canine because they cannot afford to buy one.

The price tag is beyond their reach.

But the “neighbor’s” dog is not! 

Still another reason for dog thievery revolves around ownership disputes.

A couple may break up and have a disagreement about who’s to retain ownership of “Fido.”

The result?

An opportunity to steal the family pet!

How to Prevent Your Dog from Being Stolen

What can I do to prevent someone from stealing my dog?

What safeguards can I put in place to thwart a potential thief from taking my pup from his home?

Here’s an infographic of simple, practical measures that you and I can use to stop a dog thief in his tracks.

By the way, please share my infographic!

Never Leave Your Dog Unattended

If you bring your canine buddy on a shopping spree or a trip to the local grocery store, make sure that you don’t leave him by himself.

Never, I repeat never, leave your dog outside a store while you go in for “a few seconds.”

This provides an excellent opportunity for a dognapper to walk away with your pet. 

Also, some people will crack the car window just a bit for Spot while they go into the grocery store to buy a few items.

If you do this in the hot summertime, you’re inviting an animal lover to report you to the local humane society for neglect.

Just imagine staying in a parked car with virtually no air circulating.

Your pup could overheat and experience a stroke while you’re shopping for those “few items.” 

However, not only do you leave yourself open for a call from the Humane Society, but you’re also inviting a thief to take your dog off your hands.

If you take your puppy with you on a shopping trip, why not also take a friend along too?

The friend could stay with the pup while you shop or could even stay in the car with your dog while you buy those few items.

Microchip Your Dog

One of the best safeguards against dog thievery is to have your pup microchipped!

This may sound hi-tech and complex, but it’s a simple procedure. 

A microchip is a radio-frequency identification transponder (it does sound hi-tech, doesn’t it?).

This tiny chip is placed under the loose skin between the shoulder blades of a puppy.

The veterinarian scans the chip, transmitting the identification number. 

I remember that we waited a couple of months to bring our Opie home after choosing him from a Cavapoo breeder.

This allowed the breeder to make sure he could be microchipped and have his vaccination shots.

Compare the microchip ID data to our social security number and the information tied to it.

I’m so glad that Opie has this little chip the size of a grain of rice that serves as his “social security number.”

You may be thinking that there’s no worries after your dog is microchipped.

Well, you’re wrong!

To complete the process, you must register your little buddy with a national pet recovery database.

Visit AKC Reunite, North America’s largest not-for-profit pet ID and recovery service, and enter the ID and other pertinent information on their site.

You’ll never regret it!

Use Social Media Discreetly

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter—all provide opportunities for us to share our daily activities.

We’re proud of our pooches and we want to show the world their pics!

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with this but it may not be the wisest course to take.

Scammers are all over social media and they excel in getting valuable data like names, addresses, and pictures that’ll help them in their illegal business of stealing pets. 

I’m not advocating that we never use social media to post pics of our furry friends but rather that we exercise caution in doing so.

Use Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and other modes of media discreetly! 

We’re responsible for the safety of our pets.

Providing a safe environment for them to live and protecting them from danger are our primary duties!

We never know who’s studying our Facebook page and planning to steal our awesome pets.

Ensure that you have your accounts protected by privacy measures. 

Leave the TV and Lights on When You Leave Your House

Another simple and practical safeguard to protect your canine friend from being stolen is to leave your TV and lights on when you leave the house to run errands.

A loud TV and leaving the lights on will cause “loiterers” to think twice before breaking into your home.

This is especially true at night!

And another added benefit is that the noise from the TV will keep your dog company! 

You might also want to put security lights on the outside of your house, or maybe install a “RING” doorbell that acts like a camera.

What thief wants their picture made?

We have RING doorbells and love them.

It provides a great wall of security knowing that we have a set of eyes watching out for us!

You just can’t go wrong buying a RING doorbell from Amazon.

Choose between a battery operated one or a wired-in model.

And there are different prices to meet your budget! 

Click here to be carried to Amazon’s page to learn more about RING.

Keep Up-to-Date Photos

This last piece of advice is a little different.

Thoughts offered prior to this point are preventive measures to thwart possible dognappers.

Keeping up-to-date photos isn’t a preventive measure but rather a tip to use when your pup is lost or stolen.

Of course, I hope that you never have to post pics of your pup to find him!

But, according to American Humane, one in three pets will become lost or stolen during their lifetime.

That’s a staggering statistic!

Up-to-date pics are so important because of many reasons.

For example, a puppy’s coat can change colors as they age, height and weight can change, and identifying marks such as a distinct gait can help greatly in locating a lost or stolen dog.

In case your puppy is lost or stolen, carry good, clear pictures, and post them at restaurants, grocery stores, libraries and any other business that gets a lot of traffic.

This would be the time to flood social media with photos of your missing dog!

Also, contact a local radio station and ask them—even plead, if you need to, for their help in locating your pup.

You’ll be surprised of the amount of support and help others are willing to give to find a missing pet!

Another crucial tidbit: a photo of you with your dog (and at different stages of his life) will prove to authorities that you’re the real owner if a thief has the audacity to claim that he is the rightful owner of your stolen pup!

Final Thoughts

The best medicine for pet safety is preventive measures.

If we can save one dog from having to spend one second with a thief, we have done our work as dog parents very well.

But there’s always the possibility that a thief will break our hearts by robbing us of our pets.

I’m pretty sure what you would do if that scenario occurred.

But let me give you some comparisons.

If your son or daughter was kidnapped, you’d move heaven and earth to find them.

Right?

If your father or mother got lost because of Alzheimer’s, you’d draw every penny out of your banking account to find them and bring them home. 

Am I right or wrong?

So, if our furry friends are stolen, we just won’t rest until we find them.

Because as the old saying goes, “A dog is man’s best friend.” 

-Howell

Before you leave my blog, check out my other articles on cavapoojournal.com. I know you’ll enjoy them!