In today’s world, the sad reality is that opportunistic thieves often steal cats and dogs from their own yard. Pet theft is usually motivated by money – from dogfighters seeking bait animals, dealers looking for animals to sell to research laboratories and breeding operations, or individuals just looking to make a quick buck by rehoming your pet for an adoption fee.
Losing a pet under legitimate circumstances is always hard, but the ‘sense of not knowing’ when a pet is stolen is equally heartbreaking for pet parents.
In recognition of Pet Theft Awareness Day we share our top five tips to keep your pets safe and hopefully make it easier to recover them if they are stolen.
1. Keep pets behind closed doors
Cat flaps and doggy doors are great inventions, and they give our cats and dogs unrestricted access to the yard day or night. But, it’s much harder to keep track of your pet when they have such easy access to the outdoors. Cats and dogs who slip over (or under) your fence are at immediate risk if there is someone in the neighbourhood looking to steal pets, they’re also at risk of being hit by a car, fighting with other animals or cruelty from people who just don’t like roaming cats and off-leash dogs.
Pets are always safest behind closed doors where you can keep a close eye on them. We recommend forgoing the pet door and supervising your pets in the yard at all times. To prevent pets accidentally escaping if someone leaves the garden gate open you can install spring latches on gates or padlock them for extra security.
Image: Trish Hamme via Flickr
2. Check references of pet professionals
Would you trust your child to a babysitter whose references you hadn’t checked out first? If you’re thinking about hiring a pet sitter, dog walker, trainer, or groomer we recommend conducting a background check first. Ask for references and call them to ask questions, read any online business reviews and see what people are saying about their services. Better still, ask your local vet to recommend a pet professional they know and trust. It’s always best to be safe than sorry when you’re trusting someone else to care for your best friend.
3. Keep a paper trail of documents
You say it’s your cat or dog – but can you prove it? Make sure you have ownership records, adoption papers or veterinary reports for your pets stored somewhere safe, just in case you need these to prove ownership. It’s also a good idea to have photos of your pets available – make sure you’ve captured and noted any unique markings or distinctive features. For example, Charlie has a black pigmentation mark on his rear right paw pad whereas all of his other paw pads are pink.
Image: Pawesome Cats
Microchipping your pet is a legal requirement in many countries, and whilst it may not prevent pet theft it can definitely help in reuniting lost pets and owners. Collars and tags are great, but a microchip is an ID for life. It is injected underneath your pet’s skin, between the shoulders, and contains all of your contact information.
There are also many Lost & Found pet websites available, which allow you to register your pet’s details. This provides additional peace of mind and means your records are only ever a few mouse clicks away if you need to start a search.
4. Don’t leave your pets unattended anywhere
More relevant for dog owners, but those who fall victim to pet theft are often heard afterwards saying things like: ‘I only popped into the shop for a few seconds”, “our back yard is fully fenced’, or “my dog was alone in the car for 2 minutes”.
Pet thieves are clever and they’re quick. It only takes a few seconds for them to successfully lure your dog away with a piece of eye fillet steak, and herd them into a parked car across the road. You wouldn’t leave your child unattended in a public space, and your dog is no different. Never leave your dog tied up outside a shop while you pop inside, or alone in a car – it’s just not safe. And really, is it worth the risk? We don’t think so.
Dogs are often dog-napped when they’re out walking with their owners, or running around at an off-leash park. We had an instance of this only a few months ago in our local park, thankfully the attempt was thwarted by concerned passers-by.
Image: swong95765 via Flickr
5. Spay or neuter your pets
Especially if you own a purebred cat or dog and don’t intend to breed or show them, spaying or neutering is a smart idea. Spaying and neutering not only prevents unwanted litters of kittens or puppies but also makes your pet less valuable to thieves who would on-sell them for breeding purposes. Desexed pets are also less likely to stray far from home, reducing their risk of being stolen in the first place.
Hopefully these tips have highlighted what steps you can take to keep your pets safe and prevent them from becoming another statistic. Please share your comments below.
Very good tips – and so scary to think about! I’ve seen this reported on the news time and time again.
It would be so horrible to have a pet stolen. I’ve known a few people who have had their dogs stolen out of their yards. In my area, dog fighting is a real problem. Keeping your pets indoors and/or under your supervision is so important. Thieves look for easy targets.
Not something we ever want to think about …but so important to be extra careful. I tend to be over-protective with my guys and I’m OK with that.
We’ve pretty much done everything you’re recommending except for the microchip. There is a medical reason this hasn’t been done.
Such a scary thought and important tips. Kilo is microchipped and photographed. He never outside alone anywhere, even in our enclosed little patio as he tries to climb out and could easily attack or fight with passing people, dogs, cats, raccoons, cars, bikes, squirrels etc. He looks cute enough to steal but I doubt anyone would get close enough- his snarls would ward them off unless they had major food and drugged him (I have heard of that happening- but more for robbing houses).
These are such important tips! It’s horrifying that people would steal the pets of others. Gracie and Zoe aren’t allowed outside, and both are spayed and microchipped. We also have (lots) of photos of them both.
Great tips, Layla is microchipped plus her tag has a barcode so anyone can scan it to contact me immediately and both of photos of her on the profiles with all her info
Mr. N is microchipped and tagged and I have all the documents proving ownership. I’ve had a couple of encounters where people have said they were his owners or said they want to kidnap him which was scary!
Thanks for these important reminders. It would be devastating to have our pets stolen (or lost.)
It’s the scariest thing Claire could even think of ! Purrs
You present some excellent tips, I hope people take them seriously. It drives me crazy how often I see people leave their dogs tied up outside a shop while they run in. Don’t they realise in a second their dog can be stolen and who knows what could happen? Thanks for calling attention to this.
I keep good track of my pets, though my dog Victor runs off leash a lot. Fortunately, he’s hard to catch when he doesn’t want to be caught. I don’t leave him tied up outside a store etc. My new cat Sally has no interest in going outside at all… for now. Victor is microchipped too. One thing I had to do was contact the company and update his address from that of his previous owner. Don’t forget that if you’ve got a rescue.
Can i also add, keep all details up to date.
So many people forget to update their microchip details when they get a new phone or move home
The thought of someone stealing Bentley or Pierre is horrifying. It is the reason that I seldom leave them anywhere. These are great tips. ☺
These are terrific suggestions, every one of them! Pet theft is so scary, there are some very disturbed people out there, you never know what could happen to your beloved pet.
Never thought of markings although the increasing popularity of #markingsmonday on Twitter will boost recognition of some stolen pets I hope. I am now squinting at all our cats – and they are looking shifty as a result…….
I can’t keep ours in, we are English, in our country we have not, until recently had the toxic undertow of hate that kills a lot of other pets worldwide. Even our decent sized house would not have room for all of our cats, and the younger ones have serious issues if they are not allowed out. The worst predator in Britain is man- but there is an implied trust in the country that allows cats to largely go unmolested. I have never had a pedigree but can see how tempting this would be to steal (so much for my dreams of owning a Siamese then…)
My human worries a lot about my getting catnapped, actually! Because of my beauty and popularity. So when we are at a cat show, I am rarely left unattended, never for more than a bathroom break.
These are important tips. We never thought of taking photos of markings. Lexy also has a black mark on her paw.