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Edinburgh report reveals where and when your dog is the most at risk of being snatched

Document Cited in Related
Vincent
AuthorIuliia Vlasova
Published date21 June 2022
Publication titleEdinburghLive (Scotland)
In the 2020/21 financial year, 88 dog theft incidents were reported to Police Scotland in the capital, a Freedom of Information request revealed. There has been a 42 per cent spike in dognapping cases compared to the previous year

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Experts warn that the primary motivation for dog snatching is the possible financial gain involved.

Michael Emans is the lead for dog training at Paw Haus, a dog daycare centre in Livingston, and a retired police officer. He said: "In my opinion, dog theft is on the rise due to the potential of making a large amount of money from the unlawful sale of a dog if stolen.

"There has been a particular rise in hybrid style breeds that can fetch large amounts of money, the types of breeds like labradoodle and cockapoo type dogs which are desirable.

"The French Bulldog is one of the most popular breeds within the UK, and this can fetch large amounts of money, as well as the other breeds making an appearance like the American pocket bully.

"I was recently informed one of these dogs fetching in the region of £10,000. So as you can see, these dogs being desirable would be the motivation for thefts of these breeds. The high earning potential can be a significant motivation, to say the least.

"To add to that, dogs will be stolen to be used as bait dogs in illegal dog fighting, so these would be easy pickings for these types of criminality."

The same report reveals that precisely half of the dogs reported as stolen have been taken from the residential premises - 44 incidents - with the next most likely place where one's dog can be snatched being public space - with 21 incidents.

The report suggests that despite often being left unattended in cars, there has only been one case of a dog being snatched from a vehicle in the last financial year.

When analysing the days on which dog stealing occurred, the report concluded that a quarter of thefts happened on Saturdays. Wednesdays were revealed as the second most popular day for thefts - at 21.6% - followed by Tuesdays at 14.8%.

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