Stolen Dogs

Particularly with one Dogsey Dog currently missing, all out thoughts are very much on missing dogs at the moment.

It has started to make me really think about this subject and one thing that occured to me is that many stolen dogs could be being bought by unsuspecting purchasers.

I thought it might be worth having a sticky somewhere on Dogsey - probably under the private rehome section, making people aware, and have drafted something that I would like to ask Azz if we can post as a sticky.

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.

However 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.

What do you think - is this a good idea - is there anything that should be added/amended/deleted?

good idea, and hopefully everyone on dogsey has their dog either chipped or tatooed, maybe push home how important this is. We have reunited dogs with owners when we have found chips, even on at Sebly gamefair, a guy had heard we were chipping and came with a collie he had found in his garden, we scanned it and gave him the number, whilst he was phoning petlog, the owner was on the phone to report her missing, dog reunited very quickly.

That is a brilliant idea Fiona. It gets the thumbs up from me.

I think this is an excellent idea.

Can I also add that prospective purchasers should mention that they will be taking the dog to a Vet and getting it microchipped. If the dog has been stolen this may cause the seller to start acting suspiciously.

Scandalously many vets do not automatically scan a dog when it is registered with them so many dogs that could be easily reunited with their owners are not.

J.

Good point about the microchipping

Thanks Kirsty

That's a very good point Mothership - I'll add that in before asking Azz if he will post it as a sticky.

Re the Vets - I've never even thought about that before. I don't recall our vets scanning our new rescues when we've taken them in for the first time, though I guess as an existing client they trust us (and we usually give them the rescue papers with any existing vacs etc. in it so our vet knows where the dog came from).

as a rescue, we always scan dogs when they come in, we have managed to find chips when we have been told there are none, and alwyas contact old owners.

Superb idea, Fi x

What a fab idea and to be honest it had never crossed my mind before that this sort of thing might happen more regularly than you think. Scarey stuff.

You could also add to ask about whether the dog (assuming is female) has been spayed as it's not easy to tell and I'd imagine that the "seller" wouldn't be able to give a definitive answer and that might ring alarm bells too.

Marvellous idea. Anything to prevent dogs from being stolen/sold on.

all great ideas.

if i think of anything i will add