“Theft prevented by a watchdog.” Not the first time you heard or read this, right? When a burglar tries to get a hold of your stuff, watchdogs can be saviors. Sometimes even the sight of a watchdog is enough to scare the thief away. Watchdogs are one of the best ways to deter thieves.
But now let’s take another scenario into consideration. What if you come home from the office one day and do not find your dog anywhere. You look for them in every room of the house, you call the caretaker and he says that when he left, the dog was tied to the pole in the garden.
You ask the neighbors, but nobody has a clue where the dog went. And suddenly, a thought strikes into your mind, “Has my dog been stolen.” This is not something you would want to experience, is it?
So, if you do not want to get into this situation, then as always, prevention is better than cure. Why let your dog get stolen in the first place?
In this article, we will discuss how to prevent your beloved dogs from being stolen. So without further ado, let us get started.
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Ways To Prevent Dog Theft
There are several ways that you can use to keep your dog away from danger. Technology has evolved a lot over the years and made it easy for us to keep an eye out for our loved ones as well as our valuable belongings.
So, here are 8 ways that you can use to prevent dogs from getting stolen.
Microchip Your Dog
Microchipping is a great way of getting your dog its own unique identity. A Microchip is a radio frequency identification device that gives a unique identification number to your dog.
Whenever a pet dog is retrieved or found, the veterinary doctor uses the ID scanner and makes a call to the microchip registry to get your contact information.
The Microchipping method makes it nearly impossible for the thief to steal your dog on a walk or anywhere else because the microchip cannot be removed without evasive surgery.
You can easily buy a microchipping kit online from Amazon.
Use A GPS Dog Collar To Prevent Dogs From Being Stolen
GPS dog collars are devices that help you identify your dog’s location while you’re not around. Dedicated mobile phone applications are there to help you keep a track of where your dog is.
The application which is to be used to follow the location solely depends on the company of the collar that you are using. Even the brands like Garmin manufacture GPS dog collars for the sake of your dog’s safety.
The only disadvantage of GPS dog collars is that they quite often run out of juice. So, if you buy a GPS dog collar, just consider that you are getting the one that has a good battery life.
Buy A Safe, Strong And Lockable Leash
A variety of leashes have been in the market for a long time now. New kinds of dog leashes still continue to amaze us every day.
Sometimes we are just confused about which one to buy as all the options available are really very captivating.
No matter how good the leash looks, consider its strength, comfort, and that it can protect your dog. Buying a cheap leash can double the risk of your dog getting stolen as it is easy to break.
Just make sure that the leash makes the dog feel comfortable and for the best security, try to buy one that is lockable.
Prevent Dog Theft By Getting Your Yard Fenced
You might not notice it, but sometimes, thieves lurk around your house to get their hands on your beautiful dog.
If there is no proper security provided for your dog, you might end up losing it to these greedy poachers who do not give a second thought before stealing.
Get your yard fenced before you realize that your dog has been stolen while it was playing in the yard.
Keep Doors And Gates locked
While you’re outside if you’ve left your dog in your house, lock all the doors and windows even if you do not have to stay outside for long so that even if a housebreaker tries to get in, he/she fails. Your dog would be safe inside the house if the doors and windows are locked.
If your dog is in the house, and however, you forget to lock the doors and windows, the thief would just get another good reason to rob you other than your stuff.
Be Careful Of Strangers
When on a walk, you will definitely run into dog enthusiasts and other people walking their dogs. These dognappers might seem friendly.
For the first time, you might want to talk to them for a little longer, but just be aware of an overly interested stranger. They can be a sign of danger for you and your beloved dog.
You might run into these people in dog parks. Just try to avoid an overly casual conversation with a complete stranger, and avoid giving them the details about the dog. Also, DO NOT give them your address to keep your dogs safe from dognappers.
Do Not Keep The Dog Unleahsed While Outside
You may want to give your dog a little rest by unleashing them, but trust me, this has proven to be an enormous mistake for a lot of people.
As soon as you unleash your dog outside your home, the chance of it getting stolen increases to a large extent.
Do not keep your dog unleashed to prevent dogs from being stolen because just one distraction can get your dog stolen.
Always keep an Eye Out For Your Dog While Outside
Even if you have to unleash your dog while you’re outside, just keep an eye on it and the things happening around it.
As soon as your leave the dog alone, the thief gets the chance that he has been looking for, for a long time. And that one chance can make you lose your dog.
If you unleash your dog, follow them everywhere they go and after some time, tie it to its leash and continue the walk.
Do Not Leave Your Dog In Your Car
Each one of us is well aware that cars are quite easy to break into. And car theft has been on rise for a couple of decades, especially keyless car theft.
Leaving your dog in the car is just going to give the robber another reason why he should rob you. The car and the dog would get them a lot of money.
Therefore, to prevent dogs from being stolen, try to avoid a situation where you have to leave your dog in your car as it would bring you no good but only harm, both, emotionally and financially.
What Do I Do If My Dog Is Stolen?
First and foremost, you should be getting a police complaint lodged. The cops can definitely provide a helping hand if your dog is kidnapped.
If your dog was microchipped, report it stolen to your microchip provider. This can help you retrieve your dog.
Using devices like GPS Dog Collars might help you to be ready for a situation like this. An anti-theft GPS dog collar can help you identify your dog’s last known or present location. This might help you get your dog back.
Social media advertisements and distributing posters in the locality can help you know something about your dog like who saw it the last time, where, and whom was it seen with.
If your dog was stolen from a public place, try to get a hold of the CCTV footage of the supposed time of your dog being stolen.
Why Do People Steal Dogs?
Dogs often get stolen for money. Dogs that are well-bred are sold for a high price in the black market. If your dog is of a good breed, it can get the thief a lot of money which gives them the motive to steal your dog.
Most of the people steal them for breeding. They cross breed stolen dogs with other stolen dogs to sell their kids at a huge price.
Sometimes dog enthusiasts steal dogs so that they can raise them as their own. They steal dogs because they cannot afford a dog, or cannot buy one for some other reason. Beware of these guys.
FAQs
Pug, French Bulldog, German Shephard, American Bulldog are some of the most stolen dog breeds. If you own one of these, you need to be extra careful.
A Microchip is an affordable and safe way to prevent theft. There is no way a thief can know that your dog has been microchipped.
Stealing a dog for any commercial purpose leads to the commitment of a criminal offense which makes the person serve a maximum of 1 year of jail time and in some cases they need to pay huge fines.
The answer is yes, you can. Local courts often take on these cases where the applicant seeks small damages. For example, re-possession of the dog and compensation.
There are a multiple ways to keep the thieves away from your dog. You can use a GPS collar, lock the doors and windows properly before leaving the house, get your house fenced, don’t leave the dogs in car, and don’t unleash them while you are on a walk with them. These are the few ways to prevent dog theft.
An estimate shows that 2 million dogs are stolen each year in US alone and only 10% of the owners get their pets back. So you can well imagine how common is dog theft and how often they are stolen.
