I cant believe how many dogs are stolen :-(

Me neither :-( it's a sad world that we live in

Hi Poohbear,
Your dog may be a friend and family member to you, but looking at it from a villians point of view its 'cash on the hoof'.
When you come to think of it, most reasonable pedigree dogs are around the £500 mark. (some of the rearer breeds can be a whole lot more.)  Also on the rare occaision that the crook gets cought and is brought to court the sentance is almost laughable.
I know that my 'gas-bucket' loves everybody, and the highlight of his life is going for a ride in the car, so anyone could stop their car, open the door and he would be in like a shot.  I would be heartbroken if he was ever lost or stolen.
I think the law should be just as hard on 'dog-nappers' as it is on kidnappers.  But sadly the police are not all that interested in a stolen dog
:(
Harry C

Good for me, none of my dogs can be stolen :) . One would eat them alive and the other one would make so much noise that most people would change their minds.

I do worry and try to make sure they are never too far away in the park (not easy with Cavaliers!) as they are so friendly they would go with absolutely anyone! Mind you, they're such little monsters (I mean darlings?) they would probably dump them straight back in the park after half an hour!

I agree with Harry C the law is a joke. I had a little idiot drive his scooter at my old dog + cover him in white spray paint (looked really good on a black + tan Rott) and the police were more interested in the fact that I threatened the little brat, than they were about what he hid to my dog and the fact that he was vandalising someone else's property with spray paint.

Microchipping should be mandatory - atleast that way if your dog is stolen + found you can be reunited with it asap. Any comments anyone?

I am a bit worried tho as all the dogs I have been reading about that have been stolen are mostly in the South East of England and I am due to move there in 2 weeks. Oh well good luck to them if they try to steal my Dobe!

Microchipping does not prove ownership, does not ensure you will get your dog back & only proves you own the chip

They move, they fail, they are not permanent, they can be tampered with by inserting another chip along side the original one & of course you need a scanner to read them, so no scanner(our police stations here don't have them)no id

Moonmaiden
Would you recommend tattooing or something else as well then.  Ella is microchipped which I always thought was enough but your post suggests its not.  She went missing for 20 minutes the other day and I was frantic as she never leaves our side.  She was on her way home (across two luckily not busy roads) and a friend saw her but she could easily have been found by someone else or indeed stolen.  What would you suggest is the best way to protect our dogs.
Thanks and best wishes
Alex 

There is a yorkshire terrier called Alfie....and he went missing 19-5-04 Alfie was micro-chipped and Justine his owner is heart broken, she has put up a 10 thousand pounds reward, and even though he is micro-chipped she still to this day hasn't got him back :-( Another one was Beamer a husky, his owner left him outside a shop for 2 mins.....and the thief rang the owner and said that he'd cut of 2 of Beamers toes, eventually Beamer was found in a scrap yard.....he had been dyed a different colour :-(

What is this world coming too?

All my dogs are tattooed if you click on my name & go to my dogs site & onto Roy's page you will see his tattoo 7 days after he had been tattooed, it's even clearer now as all the excess ink has worn off & he's had a both ;) (lol just been updating it)

You only need your eyes to see a tattoo & as Joan & Davy Hall found out they may not stop your dog getting stolen but it's stops them being kept by the thieves & prevents resale. They got their stolen to order puppies back within hours & they were intact & unhurt

My puppy has been chipped but only because he has to be for his pet passport & I have bought a scanner so I can make sure I know it is working & where it is

Each to their own with ID but the tattoo is the only permanent ID

Hi

Thanks for that moonmaiden. Mine is both tattoo'd and chipped. The vet checks his chip everytime we go (which is once a month or so - taking full advantage of his - you can use my scales for free offer!)

SORRY TO BE THE ONE WITH BAD NEWS, BUT ONE OF MY DOGS WAS TATTOOED SOME YEARS AGO, HE WAS STOLEN FROM MY GARDEN, WE FOUND HIM 4 MONTHS LATER, MINUS HIS EAR. SO NOW I CHIP AND DNA PROFILE MY DOGS.

Sorry Jane but there has never been an NDTR tattooed dog that has had it's ear cut off so you must own racing greyhounds, lurchers or a dog tattooed by someone else. BTW using capitals on the internet is considered rude & shouting

we joined missing pets they have millies dna chip no no name on her dog tag just a free phone number where all her details are logged lifetime membership 99.00 that includes the dna sample kit

Isn't that £49 not £99 ?

49.00 annual but if you upgrade and pay a one off fee its 99.00 thatsitfor life we did it about a week ago

Yes, I have done that too, I pay about £16 a month until it is paid off and my dog is covered for life with them. I had her first DNA kit lost in the post though, so they have sent a second one out also for free so I am going to get her DNA sample done and sent off next week. My pup was also microchipped two weeks ago.

What does NTDR mean?

National Dog Tattoo Register?  Think just worked it out?

I've read that most dogs are stolen for quick re-sale these days.  People such as drug addicts steal them to get quick money. Very scary

Actually you have opted for the medalert option which is £99 for life(or £4 + permonth). There is also the basic for £49.95. Both are for life

The extra fee is for calling for emergency veterinary  in case of accidents & a payment to the finder-hence the name of the cover-medalert so we are both right ;)

It is terrible how many dogs go missing each year.As many have said its mainly for money reasons.
i own 4 dogs None of which are tattooed or microchipped,I have heard all to often of microchips "moving house" basically the microchip migrates through the dogs body and can cause serious harm.Tattooing? the reasons i would NEVER even think of getting my dog tattooed are

1. i think it would be painful for the dog
and
2. My friends dog was stolen 2 and a half years ago,It had a tattoo.But when they searched they couldnt find a dog that match the number of her tattoo.So my friend gave up hope.When 2 weeks  later she got a call from someone she was given an address and told  she had to pay £900 to get her dog back.She called the police who followed her to the address and the 3 men and 1 women were arested.It was her dog ofter all.The people had tried to resell it but because of the tattoo they had a problem.The dogs ear had been burned so badly trying to get rid of the mark he dog had to lose its ear! if the people had decided not to phone her asking a randsom for the dog,she would never have seen him again so tattoos are not always the safe method.
To me keeping my dog by myside at all times is the best method.I know its not possible for those who work.

RKF

I've sent you a PM can you reply with full details of the dog concerned as the NDTR registrar has no information about this case at all

This is urgent

Thanx