Private Rehomes – Stolen Dogs

More and more dogs are being stolen and sold on to unsuspecting purchasers.

If you are thinking of getting a private re-home dog, please bare this in mind. Chat to the current owners about the history of the dog and if anything seems suspicious, please try to investigate further.

Examples of situations which may arouse suspicion:

• When the current owner admits they haven’t had the dog very long
• When the dog does not seem to respond to the name the current owner is using
• When the current owner is vague/inconsistent about how old the dog is, how long they have had him/her and where he/she originally came from
• When there is no paperwork with the dog – not even vaccination certificates, or when the paperwork does not seem to match the dog.

Evidently not all of these situations will mean that the dog is stolen and accusations should certainly not be made of the current owner without positive proof.

If you do buy a rehome- dog, please also ask your vet to check for an existing microchip and if there is one, that the registration details match those of the person you bought the dog from. If they don’t match, please ask the microchip registration company to contact the registered owners to verify that the dog is not lost/stolen.

If more people are aware of the possibility of a dog having been stolen, it may make it harder for thieves to profit from their crimes and may make them think twice before stealing a dog.

If you don’t know the best places to search for missing dogs, ask for help on Dogsey.