With all the great restaurants and shopping in Chicago, that we are "forced" to walk by each day on our daily walk, it is often tempting to leave the pooches tied up outside to grab a quick ice-cream, coffee, or even look around a store. Some places even make it really convenient to just leave your pooch:
While this can be really tempting, there has been a huge problem in the city with stolen dogs. I used to be really naive to the idea that a person could actually steal a dog, but since I've lived here I've become privy to the fact that there are a couple of reasons people are taking the dogs:1) They're stealing purebred dogs and reselling them for profit
2) People steal pitbulls for breeding or fighting
3) Any type of dog can be stolen as a "bait dog" to train a fighting dog
4) And I saw this HBO(?) special a couple of years ago where people were stealing dogs to sell for medical testing. They had this undercover camera that followed this guy who was earning $15 a head for the dogs. He was even going into people's backyards and stealing their pets.
Here are a couple of pooches I saw tied up the other day. Even though there are so many people walking by, think how easily you can grab this little guy:
This dog was really sweet and trusting. It came up to us and we were petting it with no owner in sight:
And who wouldn't want this well-behaved pooch. He could be yours if you just unclip the latch and hook him onto your own leash:
With our pitties, and knowing the type of terrible things that could happen if they landed in the wrong hands, we never leave them alone. Even if they're just hanging out on the deck, which is in the back and on an upper-level, we won't leave them alone. E actually had a bike stolen from the deck, left unguarded for a mere 20 minutes, so we know how stealthily predators can work.
The worst part is dog thefts have gone beyond the streets. The thieves are now breaking into peoples' homes, and taking dogs as part of the "loot". There have been a couple of robberies in our area; the dogs stolen are mainly smaller purebred dogs which I'm guessing they're selling for profit. One guy was lucky enough to "rebuy" his French Bulldog on Craigslist.This is my biggest fear; if our pitties are stolen, it can only mean terrible things. And after watching several episodes of the show It Takes a Thief--a reality show about 2 former robbers who effortlessly defy burglar alarms to rob houses--it really makes me wonder if our place is secure enough.
17 comments:
That is so scary I could almost hardly read it. Momma gets mad at master when he leaves us out in the yard while he runs errands even though our yard is fenced and stuff and I can be kind of scary. That's why I can't go on car rides when it is hot because momma doesn't even want to leave me in the car if she has to leave the windows down.
Thanks for that PSA. I bet you have saved some doggies from getting kidnapped.
Slobbers,
Mango
I've spent most of my life living in suburbia with fenced backyards for my dogs (the one time I lived in a city apartment I didn't have a dog) but I understand your worries about Miss and Mr. B being stolen. Even when my dogs were out in the yard, I was always either out there with them or watching over them from the door. Today, I keep on eye on my current canine niece and nephews (my sister's dogs) as if they were my own.
It's all so scary! I understand your fears, especially since you have two bully breeds. Thanks for posting this as a good reminder for people!
You'd think that two enormous pitties would be a deterrent to a home break-in.
One of the #1 reasons why we left our old neighborhood was for this very thing.
It was not a bad neighborhood, but there was a back-yard breeder in the cul-de-sac behind our street and he had already asked once about our dogs and if we were going to breed them. Then we found a half-chewed really expensive Nike Air in our backyard soon there after - we could only speculate how that got there because it was surely not trash...
We had a chain link fence at that house so we started locking them up when we weren't home after that.
We picked our new neighborhood and house with the safety of our dogs the #1concern.
We built our privacy fence the day after we moved in and did not put a gate on it to deter anyone from trying to get in our yard.
It's sad that lengths we have to go to to keep our dogs safe, but this is the world we live in and I would much rather be safe than sorry.
I have the same fear! There's nothing in the house that couldn't be replaced, except for my boys. People joke that they are my security system, but really they are the REASON for the security system!
That always worries me, not so much about someone breaking in and taking Dar, but leaving her tied up if we were to run into a store. I like to think that people would be reluctant to try and take her being that she's a bigger dog, but you never know. People are nuts!
it is scary the lengths people will go to to steal a dog. thanks for the reminder to be watchful of our pups. we live in a somewhat rural area, but it really could happen anywhere. i have never felt comfortable with the idea of tying up my dog outside of a store.
the booker man and asa's mama
I'm the definition of paranoia when it comes to this. We live in suburbia but I bought not one, but two, locks for our gate. And the dogs are never left out there for any length of time without one of us checking on them. Ranger would raise the alarm if anyone came into our yard but Mayzie would probably just wiggle right up to them. I was paranoid before when we just had Ranger but I'm even more so now that we have Mayzie.
That's also one of the reasons I have the dogs chipped. I have heard that research facilities can't legally accept a dog that's chipped. Of course, who knows how ethical they are when it comes to this. But it's just one more level of defense.
Amber
How do you think M and B would react if someone broke in? I know you guys work really hard to keep them calm but do you think if someone came in the bullies in them would come out?
I can't imagine someone being bold enough to try and break into a house with two big pups like M and B but I'm sure it's happened before!
What a great PSA....we don't even bring the dogs out with us when we are running errands unless they are going to go in the store with us.
Oh my god this gives me total anxiety. When Mickey was a pup I'd never leave him outside because I was sure someone would steal him. So incredibly scary.
oh that ish furry scawy . now we are glad that our mommish ish so watchful. i guess we can stop calling her a paranoid weirdo
pibble wiggles
the pittie pack
It's one reason I'd never leave ours tied outside and we don't have a dog door. Sadly, a lot of homes are broken into by people who will crawl in through those. Because of my husband's job, I don't worry a lot about our house being broken into. Everyone probably knows that we don't have anything worth stealing and that it would be seriously bad for them if they did break in here. Ironically, our old girl has a deep bark that would send even a junkyard dog running. People who don't know us would probably turn around and leave if they heard her.
I'd be lost if anyone ever stole my dogs. I couldn't imagine not knowing who had them or where they were, if they were safe or cared for... Too scary, too, too scary. I've noticed a lot of posters for small "missing" dogs, and I do wonder if they've been stolen from back yards! They're desirable and there are plenty of awful people willing to take them.
I would so steal Ms. M and Mr. B. I actually left my pups with a stranger for 2 minutes while i ran into 7-11 when we first moved to WeHo. Terrible laps in judgment but I can't see them the entire time so somehow I felt safe... doh
Thank you for making me not feel like a paranoid crazy person! My biggest fear is also that Levi will be stolen because, like you, I know that something really bad would happen to him. Sometimes I even torture myself by imagining him being put into a fighting ring to test him out and him just wanting to play with the other dog.
Unlike your friendly pair, Levi is very wary of strangers and I am confident that he would go apeshit if someone broke him. I *hope* that would be enough to deter that person, but you never know. And I would never leave him outside a store or restaurant unattended.
Maybe the would-be thief would take one look at my beautiful, intelligent, friendly cockatiel and steal her instead? Just kidding. Sort of.
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