Dognapping: make sure your faithful friend is safe

It’s something that you think only happens to other people. But one day last September – one ordinary, busy unremarkable day – our two terriers disappeared from our arable and beef farm.

Because they have the sort of freedom many farm dogs do to roam about the stackyard, catching rats and eating unmentionables, they weren’t missed until that evening. Even then, my husband and I weren’t too worried – it wasn’t the first time they’d got caught up in some canine adventure, only to appear sheepishly on the doorstep the next morning.

But morning came and no dogs with it so, after a phone call to the dog warden, I set out to drive the lanes around our East Yorkshire farm to see if I could spot them.

It was during this drive I got a phone call from the RSPCA shelter at York: Dill, the 15-year-old terrier, had been handed in after being “found” nearby. Tippi, the two-and-a-half-year-old Lakeland Patterdale cross, was still missing.

What to do when the worst happens

• Report the dog to the dog warden, microchipping services (if chipped) and local rescue centres immediately. Farmwatch will also circulate details for members
  
• If you have evidence the dog has been stolen, or suspect it, report it to the police
  
• Get out there and look – one owner I spoke to spotted her dog wandering loose several miles from home while out horse riding; she thinks he had run away from whoever had taken him
  
• Get posters up – DogLost offers a free poster-building service online, allowing you to circulate the poster electronically or print it off; or you can easily make your own
  
• Never give up – Selena Masson’s dog turned up 14 months later; others have been found several years later (usually via microchip scanning)
  
• Go viral: I estimate more than 50,000 people could have seen Tippi’s details within 24 hours of her being stolen, thanks to Twitter, Facebook and various websites. I used her e-poster from DogLost as the link on social media sites.
  
• These sites all offer help and advice: DogLost.co.uk, DogwatchAlert.com, Animalsearchuk.co.uk, Lostdogsuk.com, Dogtheftaction.com and Nationalpetregister.org
  
• Contact vet practices; many have their own website, and all will take microchip details in case a new dog comes into the practice

The York shelter is 30 miles from us – there was simply no way our elderly, arthritic terrier would have covered that distance overnight. With a sinking heart, I faced the fact our dogs had been stolen – with the older dog dumped when they realised her age and lack of value.

There can’t be many farms that haven’t fallen victim to rural crime. Whether it’s a quad bike disappearing or the workshop suffering a night raid, it’s a sad fact of rural life. Unfortunately, it’s not just machinery or tools on the thieves’ shopping list – farm dogs are also a target.

Having anything stolen can be shocking experience, even something mechanical which can be replaced, but there is something deeply personal and affecting about having a dog stolen.

Like most farming people, we are not unduly sentimental about our animals, but I found the thought of how frightened and confused Tippi would be almost unbearable, and was simultaneously beside myself with rage.

Of course I was aware pets got stolen, but until my husband started ringing round his farming friends asking them to keep an eye out, I had no idea just how widespread a problem it is. Dozens of stories of stolen dogs emerged.

Tim Price, NFU Mutual rural affairs spokesman, says its figures show that working dogs are at highest risk of theft.

We think this is because dogs with skills can be sold on for a quick return – something not usually possible with pets or high-value pedigree dogs used for breeding. The latter tend not to be targeted because paperwork is required to prove the dog’s stud credentials.

Gundogs are a well-known target – when trained they are worth £1,000-plus. Former news editor of Shooting Times Selena Masson had hers stolen from a locked vehicle in a quiet country lane, clearly targeted as other vehicles with valuables in them were not touched.

Dogwatch, set up following a spate of gundog thefts from gamekeepers, is a volunteer organisation that works with Thames Valley Police. “There is an epidemic of working dog thefts down here at the moment, particularly in the Hampshire area.

“It is an organised gang targeting working spaniels; they are professionals who know exactly what they are going for,” says a Dogwatch spokesman, who adds these dogs end up being sold on or used for breeding.

Trained sheepdogs can be equally valuable, but other breeds such as terriers and lurchers have a different type of appeal, says Nik Oakley, of volunteer-run organisation DogLost.

“Breeds such as lurchers, Border terriers and Jack Russells are stolen for breeding, working or hare coursing. Some are kept by travellers, or are transferred among themselves to travel the length of the country before being sold on at fairs. Some are used for ransom purposes.”

She believes the problem of theft from farms and rural areas may be under-reported as some farmers view working dogs as “tools of the trade” and, unless making an insurance claim, simply replace the dog.

“They often regard us as dealing with pets; however, if they do come to us, we do investigate and ensure that the dogs appear in our fortnightly column in Countryman’s Weekly,” says Nik.

Tony Bone of Farmwatch agrees that many don’t report thefts, but says there is a far more sinister reason.

Tips for keeping your dog secure

• Microchip and/or ear tattoo it
  
• Don’t leave it in a car – many gundogs are stolen this way
  
• Keep kennels and runs secure, including using alarms and sensors
  
• An easily-identifiable collar can help people spot or recognise a dog
  
• If you’re not going to be breed from the dog, have it neutered and make sure that fact is on tag on collar
  
• Security systems including CCTV, alarms and sensors on kennels
  
• Make sure you have plenty of good quality photographs of your dog(s) from various angles, especially ones that clearly show distinctive markings or scars

“What we see in the Norfolk area is dogs being stolen purely to ransom them back. The dog goes, and within 24 hours the owner gets a phone call with a demand for a substantial sum if they want it back – plus the threat to kill the dog if the police are involved.”

Under-reporting of farm dog theft makes it difficult to know just how widespread the problem is nationally – although a look on DogLost and other websites immediately throws up stolen working dogs all over the country.

Back in 2011, DogLost said reported thefts had doubled in a 12-month period and there’s no evidence to suggest that trend isn’t continuing.

Police response to reporting of such theft tends to be varied, despite the fact the police are required to take it seriously and issue a crime number.

Because I knew my dogs had been stolen, I was able to report it positively as theft and a PCSO came out immediately. Cumbrian farmer Roger Kirkby’s experience was very different, however.

“When our sheepdog vanished, I was pretty sure she had been stolen – it would have been completely out of character for her to wander any distance from the yard, and certainly for her to have simply gone off,” he says.

“The police just didn’t take it seriously and, beyond putting up posters in local shops, I had no idea where to start in trying to find her,” says Roger, who never saw the dog again.

Tony says they make it clear to police forces that dog theft is often linked to other rural crime. He believes many dogs are targeted during operations such as illegal hare coursing, when the perpetrators draw up a shopping list of goods to come back and steal.

“If they see a farm with good-quality kennels, they assume there are high-value dogs to be had. We often advise farmers putting alarm systems in to treat their kennels like the farmhouse in terms of security and install sensors,” says Tony.

Every organisation I spoke to agrees on the importance of chipping your dog. In our case, it brought our elderly terrier back to us via the RSPCA and I suspect was instrumental in persuading the thieves to dump Tippi after a phone call from the PCSO while following leads which led to “persons known to the North Yorkshire police”.

Within 24 hours of that call – during which the PCSO pointed out to the suspects that the dog was microchipped and the subject of a massive publicity campaign – Tippi was dumped and a Facebook friend reported spotting her running loose in fields several miles from here, distressed but otherwise unharmed.

For us, it was a happy ending – sadly, for thousands of dog owners around the country the outcome won’t always be as good.

The campaign to find Charlie

Kate Morgan and her family, like many farmers, allow their dogs to run around the farm.

When her dog Charlie vanished, she suspected the worst – especially as other terriers had been stolen locally.

“We searched the surrounding area then called the dog warden to report her missing. The next day I called the local vets and got straight on to the website DogLost.co.uk and produced a poster, which I put in local shops and garages and emailed to as many people as possible. I also started a major Twitter and Facebook campaign,” says Kate.

In the aftermath of the publicity, a number of leads came in from people who had seen the dogs with a man in the white van. Kate reported it to the police but, without hard evidence, they struggled to follow it up, so she kept up her own campaign.

“I made it clear a reward was offered, and that the dog had been spayed, making her useless for breeding. The local paper ran a story about the theft, and I rang round adverts in the local press from people wanting to buy a Patterdale, in case they had been offered Charlie.

“A week to the day after Charlie vanished, a man rang up and said he had my dog and he would bring her back. We arranged to meet in the layby where we believe they were taken from, but to be honest I had little hope that he would turn up.

“However, he rolled up in the white van, put the window down and passed Charlie to me. He never asked for the reward and he just drove off. She smelt horrid and had a few lodgers but nothing I could not sort.”

More on this topic

Have you had your dog stolen, or know someone else who has? Share your experiences on our forums

If your dog is missing, load a photo on to our gallery with a few details