It looks like the old travellers are at the dog thefts again. This time in shropshire a 5 wk pom puppy has been stolen along with (it would appear) 3 lurchers and a GSD. It may be worth looking at permenantly identifying your dogs whether by microchip or tattoo. Although this wont gaurantee they wont be stolen it may ensure that you'll get your dog back should they be found.
It may also be worth putting a tag on your bitches collars saying they have been neutered regardless as to whether they have been or not as this may assist in detering those responsible.

Funny you should say that- today I was in Town and I popped into the pet shop for some sawdust, straw and food for our rabbit- in the window they always post notices about for sale pets etc and there was a huge poster about a 6mth staffie bitch who'd gone missing a month ago these are new posters as it said 'We're STILL searching'- they were offering a reward etc- but it's still so sad:( I don't know if you read it or not but a few weeks ago on another thread I said that a different staffie and a GSD had gone missing from round here lately. Last year there was an epidemic of GSD theives and they were all going- a friend of mine who had two as guard dogs for the pub she owned had her's stole- they must have went in with meat or something as they were quite vicious, temperamental things about 5 years old! Therefore she knew they wouldn't have just went with anyone- the sad thing is though- these can't be family pets to anyone other than her and what good are they without papers? My guess is that the poor things are left tied up all day and night guarding something or somewhere with just a few crappy bones threw their way every now and again:( Either travellers or scrap yard merchants! You're right though if they were ever caught at least you'd have your pet back (what state you don't know) if you had it tattooed or micro chipped- have it done- if this ever happened to you- you'd be kicking yourself for not doing it!

This pommie puppy belongs to a friend of mine and it is believed he was stolen to order, they had been to the house a couple of day's earlier posing as potential buyers. The police and some of the local children think that this dog will already be with his 'new owners!' his breeder is devastated and very angry.

One of the gents left the house for a 'smoke' and her husband came out of their barn and caught this chap with a different older pom under his arm heading for their gate. He claimed the dog had got out and he was taking it back - he was walking in the opposite direction to the house! They left very quickly when they realised she was not alone in the property.

The gents returned this afternoon whilst they were out attending to their horses etc broke into the house and took just one particular puppy - even leaving money on a work surface they'd had to pass to get the pup out of his pen from his mother and litter mate.

That's awful- I'll certainly be on the look out for any 'dodgy' characters hanging around. Must make it worse though knowing they've been victimised, could be a potential risk for the future too.

I spoke with the husband late last night after I'd posted the last message and it would appear that they also took an 8wk old bitch puppy too!

The breeder had gone up to stay with friends for a champ show today when it happened and her husband only did a 'headcount' it wasn't until he sorted all the dogs out for the night that he realised there was another puppy missing - both the puppies that have been stolen were being run on for showing by his wife and the potential buyers had been told they were not available!

Seems no mean's nothing to some people makes you wonder what sort of person would buy 2 puppies from these people without papers and not seeing either bitches etc etc?

It really is absolutely awful:( I've got my deposit on a 3 week old GSD, and will have to pay the rest when I go to collect her at 8 weeks- she's costing £400! Under no circumstances would I have chose the easy option and gone for one such as this- no papers to back it up, unsure of temperament, health concerns etc the list goes on! And someone offering to sell me one with a lame excuse for all of the above being missing would lead me to believe that the pup was stolen- in which case I most certainly WOULD NOT buy one! They're obviously good show quality therefore whoever has bought them can't do anything anyway without papers etc and could have made done with any old dog from the sounds of it- they don't even deserve a dog- doesn't it make you soooooo mad

I have a message from Sylvia to everyone on the boards.

Please can you all keep an eye out for my babies the bitch is a Cream with an almost silver sheen to her coat and very affectionate, her mother is searching the house for her and hasn't eaten since she was stolen.
The little boy is an orange and as you can imagine at only 5 weeks he is not a big boy - he is more reserved than the bitch and will not be coping well away from his family or surroundings. We live in the Shropshire area but the police believe these babies have been stolen to order and hopefully have been delivered to their 'new homes' almost imediately - our only hope is that they are being well cared for and not neglected.

We are offering a reward for the save recovery of our babies if anyone can help or has any information please email - Mandy aka Schip with contact details and we will get back to you.

Thank you

are you having it printed in the dog press--i would, it reaches a lot whove not got computers

I agree with Dizzy- get it out to wherever you can! The four corners of the world as some might say (or is that the far corners ) Maybe you should make some posters and e-mail them to a few people on here to print off and put up in there area? Have a look at who's within a certain distance of you on the 'topic for where people live' thread. (Calculating just how far you think they may have gone- or could it be literally anywhere?- How widely spread was the news of her puppies- the net, the local paper etc?)

Most of all- Good Luck- I hope something comes up for you all;)

What about Loot free ads paper,if you contact the ad manager they are very helpful and its free of charge they carry lots of ads for pets and if you alert readers of details of the stolen dogs you may get a response if anyone is offered a dog like that.
Just a thought plus if you ring before Lunchtime the ad will be in Wednesday the manchester Number is 0161 832 0088

i know it sounds strange, but keep a look out at boot sales as a lot of travellers attend as sellers. That is where i found my westie aftr they had stolen him. they had stolen him for themselves or their children to drag from pillow to post and i spotted him a week later at my local bootfair tied up to the back of a lorry only 2 miles from where i live and displaying his original collar, so it was lucky for me that they did,nt have any brains and i actually went to the bootfair to search for my dog. hope their found

Sadly if they are prepared to go to such great lengths to steal the puppies then the dogs will have 'aquired' a probably impressive pedigree from another source, possibly imported. I doubt very much that they are being sold without papers.

It might be smart to tattoo or microchip for id numbers, but this theft business/ring seems to be getting out of hand. Those are too easy to overlook, especially when no one cares to look for those bits of ID. Would you really expect every person who paid a sum of money to be willing to hand a dog over to the original owners and acknowledge they bought stolen property? Some would, but probably, many would rationalize keeping it by thinking their home was better, or they would love the dog more.

Perhaps someone can introduce an idea for one of the 'chip' companies to attempt to figure out an implanted microchip that would locate its carrier (the dog) using GPS (Global positioning satellites), similar to what they're now doing for stolen cars.

I'd willingly pay a bit of money for that peace of mind if my dogs were in danger of being stolen out of their yards, homes or cars.
It's just a thought :D
toodles

The problem with something like that is that the device would need some sort of power. So it would be obvious which dogs had trhe device fitted as they would be carrying around their own battery pack!

I see your point...perhaps if it was some type of passive system? But hey, I'm not a tech-head. Batteries can be made tiny & very long running. I'm just trying to think up an idea ....there has to be someone out there with the design, but not realizing what a market it could be for petdom. :D

I agree if it was possible- infact has anyone ever seen those documentaries on Discovery and such like where they tag an animal so they can track it and measure progress?- You know when it an endangered species etc- Isn't this the same basis

The tags they use are quite large and cumbersome and do come detached!

unfortuantely Sylvia's puppies were too small for microchipping or tattooing at the time of their theft so not sure what else could or can be done to identify puppies from birth other than DNA profiling with check swabs taken very early on.

Our advice at Lurcher Search UK, is to tattoo AND microchip your dogs - as was said previously, it might not stop them being stolen, but will help tremendously in getting them back! And of course,try never to leave them where they can be stolen.........sadly this now seems to include in your own home:-(

I know from speaking to various travellers, it ony takes a couple of minutes to cut a microchip out and of course, they have been known to cut off tattooed dogs ears.................BUT it's all we've got atm and it's better than nothing!

The only was to stop this happening is for the Govt. to get off its backside and pass stricter legislation regarding dog theft and empowering police and dog wardens to go on to sites and search for stolen dogs. Lobby your MPs to get something done!

K

I think the powers to search travellers sites are already there unfortunately the police dont seem willing to do it. However, if it was me in my house they would have no problems getting a warrant and search my property.
Its about time travellers were treated the same as us all. You break the law you pay. Maybe then it'll stop a lot of them from taking up criminal activities so they can live their lifestyle.

Unfortunately searching a travellers site is a huge police operation. It's not unknown for firearms to be present and if this is even suspected then armed police are required to be involved in the raid.

Unless the police are absolutely certain that there are illegal activities going on they won't even consider a raid and they have to be very serious activities at that. The man power involved in such a raid would be immense and the police tend to feel that their time would be better spent elsewhere.

Raiding travellers sites is very dangerous and with policing levels being so low, a lot of forces feel that it would be an unaceptable risk to their officers. Even having 2 officers injured and off sick can result in huge reductions in the available officers for standard duties.

A very sad situation :(

Fiona
x x x

"I think the powers to search travellers sites are already there "..........unfortunately they're not:-(( The Police can only get a warrant to search a specific caravan (if they have sufficient evidence to make them suspect there's stolen property in there)........of course by the time they've got onto the site and argued with the travellers about why they want to search, the dogs are moved out the back windows and put into another caravan.

It is also extremely dangerous as the travellers are generally able to put their hands on weapons very quickly and aren't scared to use them. They also cry about "racial harrassment" the minute someone points a finger at them.

What we need is the decent travellers to come down on them like a ton of bricks, for getting them all a bad name:-(

K

They also have radios and know when the police are coming and where they are going . they can get a search warrant but the police are scared of them , you would want an army of police to go to a halting site they dont mess and have any amount of weapons. they were at a boxing tournament here one night . and a fight started between them , in a few mins they were out to their vans and came back with pick axe handles and jemmy bars . thay are savage and also cowardly . they work together and will never start a fight when alone . they come into public houses and sit in different parts of the pub so that the barman doesent think he has a problem , when the night is well on they then bunch together and cause an uproar. they mostly steal dogs for baiting fighting dogs . and blooding them . They are not too interested in reward it is just if you are lucky to get the dog before they use them to blood , they want paying . they will steal to order as well . they are fanatical about poms . reason is they cross them with a wire haired fox terrier and get the foistiest terriers ever and it is called small sport. I am not speculating here I know what I am saying . they intimidate old people into trading their furniture for the crap they sell and also take money with the trade . they know who to target . they are worse than the mafia and have different family clans fighting for leadership. the bare knuckle fights and the dog fights are on at secret venues a few times each year. there is heavy money involved on the fighters. on the pitbulls . on the pom crosses. . the towns are left in a dreadful state, so that is what is happening when they arrive in droves and stay on car parks and seasides etc. so then the local authorities have to pay them to move as well . So a good time was had by all and the residents are left to pick up the pieces , including the dead dogs. If there were any decent travellers there would not be enough to to put a stop to them . The decent ones are long time settled . so really can not be classed as travellers anymore . but they usually run the travellers bank . but thats another story . best wishes Mari

How sad to read your postings of your stolen and lost dogs my heart goes out to you all. and my fingers crossed that you may get good new on your missing four legged friends. x

Julieann

I am going to delete this thread (from Missing Dogs) as it is finished and does not pertain to a particular dog - if anyone wants any information from it please extract it in the next couple of days or put information on the missing dogs in a separate message

TIA
Christine