Change In Pet Theft Laws

  • Thread starter Deleted member 39001
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Whilst this worries and saddens me a lot , I hope we don’t have an epidemic of abandoned dogs if people ever go back to the office 😟
I unfortunately think we will which is awful and not just dogs but other animals too.

I was reading the other day that the rspca are already getting really concerned about it.
 
Wow!! 18 years is incredible!!

I'd die of a broken heart if someone stole my dogs.

I just wouldn't want to live without them.
We knew her from 2 weeks old, she developed demintia very badly and a few other problems, I think she was 18y 4 months when she was put to sleep. She traveled with me everywhere and was a firm favourite with my passengers who often wanted a cuddle after their treatment.
 
Whilst this worries and saddens me a lot , I hope we don’t have an epidemic of abandoned dogs if people ever go back to the office 😟

Sadly the RSPCA are fully expecting an influx of abandoned dogs and pets,, all bought on whim during lock down. Dogs are being used as commodities in online market places too, being sold three times in some cases fetching up to £10,000. They are being used like trading gold!
These online dog (not sure about other pets) market places are totally unregulated, another failure by government who as I understand also removed the need for you to have a license to own a dog.
So it’s pretty damn easy for criminals to steal your dog and make a fortune from it and not get caught.
The story on this is here, unfortunately it seems Sky News are the only big news channel trying to cover this at present:

 
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Signed. Our fluff ball isn't just a pet, she is part of the family. Its horrible that people can be so low to do things like this.
 
Is much of this the same reason we have Scalpers for Video cards and Consoles?
We have too many people willing to pay too much money for a, dare I say 'Product' ?

If people were not daft? enough to pay £1200? for a PS5 or £3000? for a Dog of a specific breed/look/colour then everyone, including all dogs would be better off.

It's because of humans and greed and must have this thing that this causes the problem.
A bit like the law on some porn stuff, you may say, oh well I'm just buying the final product so it's not my fault. But you buying it, it driving the demand/problem/illegal activity at the other nasty end.

Perhaps I'm alone here, but I've had a number of cats over many years.
One was one that simply found us, wandered into our garden, very thin and poorly, and tatty, looking for a home, we gave her a home and she was wish us for many years including kittens she had a few years later.
After she passed I bought a black generic kitten from a local farm, for I think £15, and again, lovely animal and again with us for many years.
Then most recently went to a cat rescue place and found a lovely ginger boy, who'd probably never had a proper home, and was eager to eat anything which was put down in front of him, and he's now about 13 years old.

I'd not for one second consider paying £300, £600, £!000+ for something specifically bred and perhaps imported from half way around the globe.
If no one was willing to pay these prices and were so fussy about what the simply MUST have, then this problem would simply go away.

Just a personal viewpoint of course. :)
 
Finally!! Some good news on this, the petition still needs to be signed by as many as possible, but in one area the Police have finally accepted that dog thefts have got so bad, they have assigned a full time officer to investigate them. Better then what they have been doing.
I only hope other forces around the country take note and follow suite:


The law still needs to be changed though in this country.
 
How many signatures short are we?
 
Finally!! Some good news on this, the petition still needs to be signed by as many as possible, but in one area the Police have finally accepted that dog thefts have got so bad, they have assigned a full time officer to investigate them. Better then what they have been doing.
I only hope other forces around the country take note and follow suite:


The law still needs to be changed though in this country.
Definitely progress!!
 
Quite honestly, I thought one had the right to tackle an offender to protect your family and possessions. Apparently not. You're just supposed to give in and watch as your dog is stolen.

 
Quite honestly, I thought one had the right to tackle an offender to protect your family and possessions. Apparently not. You're just supposed to give in and watch as your dog is stolen.

I'm really suprised that the two people who assaulted him would take his dog for a walk.

In the link @crashcris posted it said that the victicm "who was assaulted by two men who took his three-year-old sprocker spaniel ted for a walk in South London".

The article actually read
Victims include retired policeman Mike Jasper, 66, who was assaulted by two men who took his three-year-old sprocker spaniel Ted in December while walking in South London.

Believe me, I'm not in any way making light of the subject as I would have tried to kill anyone who tried to take my dog and would have been heartbroken if they'd succeeded.

I'm just pointing out the funny bit in the above post.
 
My old woman keeps praying my old boy will get nicked.
I've got no sense of smell but he keeps stinking the house out.
Apparently.
 
Is much of this the same reason we have Scalpers for Video cards and Consoles?
We have too many people willing to pay too much money for a, dare I say 'Product' ?

If people were not daft? enough to pay £1200? for a PS5 or £3000? for a Dog of a specific breed/look/colour then everyone, including all dogs would be better off.

It's because of humans and greed and must have this thing that this causes the problem.
A bit like the law on some porn stuff, you may say, oh well I'm just buying the final product so it's not my fault. But you buying it, it driving the demand/problem/illegal activity at the other nasty end.

Perhaps I'm alone here, but I've had a number of cats over many years.
One was one that simply found us, wandered into our garden, very thin and poorly, and tatty, looking for a home, we gave her a home and she was wish us for many years including kittens she had a few years later.
After she passed I bought a black generic kitten from a local farm, for I think £15, and again, lovely animal and again with us for many years.
Then most recently went to a cat rescue place and found a lovely ginger boy, who'd probably never had a proper home, and was eager to eat anything which was put down in front of him, and he's now about 13 years old.

I'd not for one second consider paying £300, £600, £!000+ for something specifically bred and perhaps imported from half way around the globe.
If no one was willing to pay these prices and were so fussy about what the simply MUST have, then this problem would simply go away.

Just a personal viewpoint of course. :)

But don’t forget, if nobody bought the expensive breeds, a lot of them would disappear.
 
I'm really suprised that the two people who assaulted him would take his dog for a walk.

In the link @crashcris posted it said that the victicm "who was assaulted by two men who took his three-year-old sprocker spaniel ted for a walk in South London".

The article actually read
Victims include retired policeman Mike Jasper, 66, who was assaulted by two men who took his three-year-old sprocker spaniel Ted in December while walking in South London.

Believe me, I'm not in any way making light of the subject as I would have tried to kill anyone who tried to take my dog and would have been heartbroken if they'd succeeded.

I'm just pointing out the funny bit in the above post.
I wouldn't bother spending your time trying to correct the reporting in the Daily Hate Mail Online, that's a rabbit hole from which you'd never emerge.
 
I wouldn't bother spending your time trying to correct the reporting in the Daily Hate Mail Online, that's a rabbit hole from which you'd never emerge.
Unfortunately very true, which is why I very rarely follow links to their website.

It was just such a graring error was to good to miss.
 
But don’t forget, if nobody bought the expensive breeds, a lot of them would disappear.

Not really sure I can understand your statement here.
If it was something like a cheap car vs an expensive car then sure.
One is made from cheaper parts, uses less bits, takes less time to put together, so it's a cheaper product.
The expensive car has to cost more, as it's more expensive to make, with more higher quality parts, and takes longer to assemble.
So if people did not want to pay that much, then those cars would no be made and dissapear.

Unless my biology understanding is wrong here.

You take 2 bog standard mutts with almost zero monetary value to humans (which is of course another topic in itself)
Give them a few drinks, a candlelit dinner, and a few moments alone in the back room...
Then around 63 days later the stork shows up with a brand new baby mutt of little value no one care about.
As far as I'm aware, exactly the same process, time, costs are involved when you bring together 2 "Wonder Dogs" together.

Or another way. Whether the Queen and Prince Philip got all bouncy/jiggy together, or Ralf and Carol from the council shelter did the same, the process and costs of a new baby are identical.

I don't see why people would stop breeding a type of dog as there is no extra costs involved over any other dog.
I don't actually like animals being exchanged for money, it sort of feels wrong.
Even when I bought a few kittens in the past for £15 or a couple of Ferrets for similar money, it felt kinda wrong that a lifeform, with no say in the matter was being exchanged for cash.

It's hard to explain my feelings here.
If you give me a dog as I want to look after a dog, that feels ok to me.
But to take money in exchange for a lifeform has a different feel to it.
 
Are you saying that all dog breeding should be done for free?
 
More than 10 million dogs in the UK and just over 400 stolen in 2020. Compare that to over 400,000 burglaries in the same period. It’s on the increase, doubled from previous year, and it’s a horrendous crime that has a massive effect on people as their dog is a member of the family, but the scale of the issue has been a little over-stated. One petition calls it an epidemic, but I’m not sure that’s really the case. Understandably is a very emotive crime, but the media are creating more fear than there needs to be. I’ve seen many a suspicious looking van, usually just a lost delivery driver, reported as a dog thief on Facebook. I know people who are afraid to walk their dog due to fear of dog theft.

As a dog owner, I completely agree that it should be treated completely differently to say stealing a bottle of wine from a store. For some people it’s their sole companion. To be fair it already is, but it needs be more so. But that’s where the courts are meant to come in. The law already allows for significant jail time, and even more so when the dog of taken from a home (burglary) or by force (robbery). It’s not a new law we need, it’s stronger enforcement and changes to the sentencing guidelines. Anyone who steals a dog should, in my eyes, get a custodial sentence. That won’t change just because the government creates a new theft classification. Just having a new offence on the statue books won’t mean more police recourses or harsher sentences, it will be effectively just be a PR exercise for the government. It’s the courts that need to get tougher on crime, and not just this one. IMO.
 
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Are you saying that all dog breeding should be done for free?

No
I guess the whole thing of one lifeform (clever ape) selectively/forcing? breeding another lifeform (dog)
Then selling that lifeform on for profit feels fundamentally not that great

Treating a lifeform in the same way as a product, whilst I know we do of course accept it, feels like it's not ideal was to carry on.

Perhaps I feel like this a bit like human slavery, we've just decided that we can't buy and own humans (same animal as ourselves) but we are totally happy about doing the exact same thing to other lifeforms, when we basically have no right to do so.

A bigger topic however. :)

What about if someone stole a dog from a family that abused it, and you knew they'd probably hurt it more if you said anything. So you find the dog one day, take it to your home to give it a better life.
Should you go to prison?
 

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