Almost everyday I see posts on the internet about Missing and Stolen dogs. Time to write a Blog about this. Unfortunately these days, you got to keep your dogs safe from predators. A lot of dogs are stolen each year. The number of pet thefts has risen 30 percent in the past year alone! Bulldogs are one of the most expensive breeds, this makes them a high level target for dognappings, also some people still see them as a fighting breed which makes it even worse. To most of us, our Dogs are not Pets they are Family, so losing your familymember and maybe never know what happened to it is a nightmare none of us wants to face. Here are some tips to keep your Dogs safe.

Most common reasons people steal Dogs

• Making a profit, selling the puppies online or on the black market
• Posing as a buyer or posing to adopt, to get a free dog
• Dogfighters in search of fighters or baitdogs
• Ransom

Most common ways Dogs are stolen

• Taken from your yard
• Stolen out of a car or outside a shop
• Stolen out of a home, breeder kennel or rescue

How to Prevent Dognappings

•  Never leave your dog alone in your car, at the shop or even in your own yard. It sounds simple but it is key for your dogs safety. Don’t be ignorant and think you can leave your dogs in the garden and pick up the phone inside the house. Driving by and getting a dog into a car only takes seconds!
• Make sure your dog is microchipped and that the chip is registrated to you, this way if your dog got stolen or is missing its much easier to track it down. This is one of the best ways to identify your pet and make it more likely to be recovered.
• If someone approaches you to ask about your dog, don’t divulge details, especially not the purchase price of your dog or where you live.
• When purchasing a dog via an advertisement, be careful you are not buying a stolen dog. Ask for some proof of ownership, Kennel Club registration papers, veterinary records or microchip registration.
• A lot of people have dogsigns/warning signs on their doors. This can be an invitation for dognappers. I have a sign on my door that says in case of fire save my two dogs. It doesnt say which breed so you can still put up a warning sign without alerting the wrong people and in case of emergency fireman or rescuers know how many dogs to save and wont risk their own lives looking for more or maybe forget one.

Rescues and Breeders

Rescues and Breeders are at high risk of dognappings, cause they have more than one dog and often puppies. There are so many stories of people at rescues asking to walk a dog they would like to adopt to never return again or people posing as buyers and steal dogs from breeders (with false id’s/checks or come back later to raid the home).

Tips for Rescues and Breeders:

• Put your contact information and location (city/state) on your website but not your address! It’s very easy this way for dognappers to stake out the house and wait for you to leave and steal your dogs.
• If you are a breeder or rescue and you have people come over, put up a webcam and inform everyone who comes in they are being filmed or ask to take their picture and explain why. A person with good intentions will have no problem with that.
• Always ask for ID (with recent photo) and make a copy before rehoming or selling your dog. Also google their names, a lot of these thieves operate on a large scale and often use the same fake id or name.
• When dogs are kept outside in Kennels make sure to properly secure that area. Fences, locks, cameras, a guard dog lose on the property etc.