We know that there are awareness weeks for almost everything these days, but this is an important one that we all need to take just a bit more notice of in order to protect our dogs.

Pet Theft Awareness Week is next week, and whilst it shouldn’t be limited to just one week of the year, we hope that it goes some way towards educating more people of the dangers out there 365 days of the year, and in whatever pocket of the country you are.

Why? Because the statistics are shocking:

• Dog theft has increased by 170% during the pandemic.
• 47% of those stolen are small or toy.
• 50% are puppies or young adults.

But the findings become even more worrying with 52% of dogs being stolen from gardens and 16% being taken while out on a walk in a public place.

And, it’s recently been highlighted that social media is also playing its part in helping thieves to detect where their next victims are. Puppy and dog owners are proudly showing off their four-legged friends online and innocently sharing their location. This is helping thieves to detect the general area of where a dog is located so that they can begin patrolling and narrowing down that area for theft.

And this is not a UK-wide problem either. The singer Lady GaGa had her two French Bulldogs stolen last month in the USA, with her dog walker shot at in order to grab the dogs from home. Thankfully, after a 500,000 return was offered, they turned up. But most of us aren’t able to splash that sort of cash for the safe return of our dogs and is why we need to become more vigilant.

Nick Parkinson, founder of Pawpounders says: “Sadly, thinking of our dog as cash strapped to our wrist is how we all need to start thinking – especially when out on a walk in a public place. The value of dogs has increased tremendously, and that is why they have become such targets since the pandemic took hold.

“Good training and recall is essential right from the word go and that’s one of the main reasons why our trainer Tom has become so busy during lockdown. Our customers have wanted one-to-one advice to ensure that their dog knows when to return to its owner with just one call.

“We have also seen a spike in the number of enquiries for our secure off-lead park, where dog and owner can be at one with each other and feel 100% safe.”

Pet theft of any animal is serious, but for our beloved dogs it’s critical that we work together to bring down the numbers and make it a specific criminal offence.

If you would like to play your part, sign here. Every signature will make a difference. https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/560216