Pets Lost and Found

posted by Marita on Mar 4

I always like to keep my blog post focused on the positive side of being a pet owner, but from time to time I need a bit of a ‘reality check’ and bring to your attention the uglier side of pet owners. In the process of setting up Pets Lost and Found I was warned about criminal activity that is affecting pet owners today.

Organized crime has syndicates, like car-hijacking syndicates, who steal animals, on order, to supply a specific demand. They will target pedigreed dogs to be used for dog fighting like Staffies, Alsatians, Border terriers and such.

“Fancy” dogs will be dog kidnapped for reselling or breeding purposes.

All and any dog may be snatched, to be sold to laboratories for testing (yes, even in South Africa) or to be sold in townships, or at the docks in coastal cities, for meat.

Unfortunately, vets do not regularly check for microchips, and when they do, they do not verify that the person, who brought the pet in, is in fact the true owner of the pet.

Never, ever leave your dog tied up anywhere. Not even in your own yard. You are putting your pet at risk, as they cannot get away from strangers. It is, in any case, a very cruel practice to keep a dog chained.
Make sure your garden fences are secure. It is also a good idea to have an alarm on your garden gates. This will alert you to any intruder even before they can get to you or your pet.

If possible, have an electrified wire installed along the top of your fence facing the street. Thieves would often simply lift a dog over the fence by its collar.

Ideally, your dog should be discouraged from running or spending time at the fences and gates facing the street. Simple and cheap methods would be to place some of its own excrement along the runway. They find it extremely unpleasant and would avoid the area. It will probably “pong” on hot summer days. However, if you do this when the pet is still young, they would be discouraged for life from spending time right there at the gate and fence.

If you like to take your dog for regular walks, do so at different times.

Never reveal details about your pet to strangers.

Never leave your dog unattended in your car. Not even for a short while. Not even when you lock the car and you are just quickly running into the shop to buy milk. People often leave a window open for the dog, which gives a thief easy access. Cars are frequently stolen with a pet inside. What happens to the pet thereafter is sometimes terrible. They get dumped next to freeways or sold, or simply abandoned, or heaven only knows what else.

You dog should never be allowed to run out of sight when out walking, thieves targeting dog only needs seconds to snatch it.

Preferably, use an extend-able lead to give the dog the feeling of freedom, while still under your protection.

Always be alert to stranger lurking in your area and peeking over fences. Whenever you notice someone trying to make “friends” with your dog, call your dog into the house immediately. Call the armed response or the police. If you feel reasonably secure behind a decent fence, try to take a picture of the person or persons, preferably with a zoom lens, so you need not get close to them.

Do not confront such persons, especially when you are alone. Get into the house and take your dogs with you. They sometimes throw powdered poison on to dogs barking at fences and can throw the same poison on you. Recently, a number of such instances were in the news.