This was always my biggest fear with Brogan. Overwhelmingly that is what Rotties and pits are stolen for. It was a huge factor in me deciding not to get another Rottweiler.
We've had 2 nasty home invasion lately. So we are in real lock down I lock the doors even if I'm in we are very careful round here. Dogs get stolen by the pup breeders to use and for use as bait dogs here. I know dog walkers and they are very careful not use the same routes and are worried if they are walking dogs like frencies. One of the walkers had 6 grands worth of dog in her van it's a big responsibility.i change my route everyday.
I just googled “bait dog”. That’s horrible, I kinda liked it better before I knew that that happened. People are sick.
I'm on the community network Nextdoor and we very often have warnings about people going around gardens carrying leads, collars, toys and treats trying to entice dogs to the gate. Community police officers are very vigilant but they cannot be everywhere at once of course. It is terrifying knowing that people are in your area doing this but it does make us more careful.
On a more lighthearted side, the dog-nappers have probably learned their lesson...pinched a few labradors and had their food stolen and counter surfed, anything that isn't tied down chewed and got mugged on a 10 minute basis when they didn't take them out for walks. They were probably identified by helicopters or drones noticing the massive damage to their back yards from unstimulated labradors.
Rory would turn into a volcano of poop all the stress would make his colitis flare up. You could just look for pebble dashed thieves.
We experienced this worry last night when my parents' dog just..disppeared. She is a tiny wee Lakeland terrier, who according to them, simply vanished! Luckily she was found, but they spent a whole day and evening worrying themselves sick. Mum isn't in the best of health now, and God knows how she would have managed if she was still missing today. I honestly don't know how these poor owners cope.
It's horrible for them a family near here had their young adult labradoddle stolen from their garden when they were in. They never got him back they and the kids never got over it they moved eventually they didn't want to be in that house anymore . The kids were terrified that the same people would come back and steal them. It's was so sad he was a really nice dog and his family loved him. The woman (kids mum) said it was hard not to look for him, when she saw a dog like him her heart lurched. So sad
Heartbreakingly sad. It is the not knowing if the dog is happy or always looking for its first owner. My daughter had several rescue dogs and twice I have seen the dogs searching a crowd for their previous owners.
I used to wonder why anyone would steal a dog, since the dog would be bonded with the original owner. Then we rescued Ginger at 4 yrs old, and she seemed to be bonded to us in one day. She was well trained and well mannered, and appeared to have had a good home before she was given up for adoption, but she was intermediately our dog, and she knew it. It may just be that Labs are more flexible than some other breeds, since they are supposed to get along with everyone. The humane society will not give the papers that go with a rescue, and the dogs must be neutered, but there are usually a number of Lab sized dogs available for adoption. We don't hear much about dog theft here, and most folks don't worry about having a dog loose in their fenced back yard. Based on several trips to Italy, I think theft is much more common in Europe than the US, but there is more concern about violent crime here. We were amazed at the security doors in the apartments we rented in Rome, Florence and Cinqua Terra, many more bolts and more solid doors than we typically see here. On the other hand my FIL keeps a firearm in every room of his house. You would not want to try robbing his house or stealing his dogs.
Much of that is because many of these places are left empty for months at a time as people use them as rentals or holiday homes. It’s something that seems alien to British sensibilities, too; when you see a lovely villa with bars on the windows you assume crime must be rife, but it’s more that it’s just what they do. It deters opportunistic theft when the properties are obviously empty, but I wouldn’t say crime is any higher than anywhere else. In the same way that leaving dogs in the garden is the norm in some cultures and shocking in others, so too the barred windows and security doors
Could be, though the places we rented were rented out most of the time. They did not sit idle often. We often heard that petty theft and pick pockets were a lot more common in Italy than in the US, but that confronting people and demanding money was a US thing. I never felt unsafe in Italy, though I'm not very paranoid anywhere. We live in an area without much theft. We often leave the house unlocked when we visit neighbors. Even though I own firearms, they are in a gun safe, not handy unless I was really worried and had some warning (hasn't happened in 75 years, though someone did kick in the door about 35 years ago).
