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Dear Yvette

Can you please do a column about dog theft? Last week our 5-month-old puppy was stolen from our yard and we are devastated. She was not usually left unsupervised, but I had to go into the house for a few minutes and when we came back she was gone – removed from her tether. We did not know this was a problem. We live just outside the Westmount area.

Michelle

Dog theft is not often discussed. It is actually quite common. The value of a dog or cat is the joy and companionship they bring to a family. Police have their hands full. It is exceedingly difficult for police to track or identify a missing animal.

There are many reasons why some people steal animals.

Sometimes dog theft involves people who are making trouble. But I don't think the vast majority of incidents fall into this category.

Worst-case scenario is that some people fight dogs. These people rarely want the responsibility of looking after an animal. When they need bait dogs, they steal dogs that belong to other people. It is sick and it happens.

Puppy mills and backyard breeders have a reputation of obtaining breeding stock by stealing your pets. It is yet another reason why people in the general community should obtain animals from CKC registered breeders or reputable rescue groups. When you give your money to a bad breeder, they are going to keep doing what they do.

I would say that most thefts fall into the puppy mill category. Since the breeding stock is stolen, these animals do not come with papers. If you ever suspect a puppy mill, contact the SPCA officers at the London Humane Society.

Personally, I find it disgusting that people would steal a pet from a family. Your children are no doubt devastated. As a family you must feel violated. Cars and objects can be replaced. A companion animal cannot be replaced. They are in many ways part of the family.

Aside for being angered that this happened to you, I am even more angered at another party. Multiple levels of government allow an environment to exist where mills and poor breeders thrive and profit. SPCA officers work with laws that have no teeth. Penalties usually involve no more than a slap on the wrist.

The pet industry is unregulated. Frankly I have yet to see any college courses that teach breeders about basic genetic traits or care practices. I find that absurd. Imagine a world where car mechanics were self-taught and safety checks did not exist. You would take a chance each time you got behind the wheel. Yet we allow that with companion animals. No wonder we have aggressive dog issues.

As long as the bare minimum care is provided to animals, officers can do very little to stop the practice. When people get away with crime and profit from it, nice people will get harmed and violated.

When people buy from mills, when people buy from most pet stores and when they buy from backyard breeders they support many intolerable practices. Since the government will do nothing, the public needs to stop this. Understand that a tattoo is not enough. Anyone can tattoo a dog. A piece of paper is not enough. Anyone can print you something off the computer.

If there is no pedigree, or if you're not working with a shelter/rescue group then walk away.

Yvette is an award winning pet writer and pet behavior columnist. She also is the author of Meeting Milo, a North American dog bite prevention program to reduce the approximately 2 million children bit by dogs annually. She is the owner of AwesomeDogs.ca and works as a behavior consultant in London, Ontario.

This column was originally featured in The Londoner
See more of Yvette... www.awesomedogs.ca
www.meetingmilo.com

Yvette has 2 dogs of her own, KIKI and KAYA. Take a look...

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