Dognapper gangs pose as RSPCA
BRAZEN dognappers are wearing RSPCA uniforms and driving vans bearing the animal charity’s logo to snatch pricey pooches.
Dog owners have reported being approached by villains posing as animal welfare officers, who say their pet is stolen and has to be taken away.
The gangs are targeting valuable breeds such as cockerpoos and cavapoos that can either be sold or used to breed in farms where puppies have a going rate of up to £3,000 each.
The RSPCA said: “Unfortunately there have been a small number of incidents in which it appears people have impersonated our officers.”
Dognappers are also placing shopping lists on social media sites of pooches they are stealing to order.
Det Supt Neil Austin from the National Police Chiefs’ Council said: “The advice I would give is be aware of social media.
“People share pictures of their dogs and puppies on social media and very often haven’t got their privacy settings set correctly, which is something to be aware of.”
PRISONERS are cooking up mindbending drugs using rat poison.
“Walter White” inmates are no longer reliant on psychoactive substances such as spice being smuggled into one prison.
Instead – just like the star of the Breaking Bad series – the lags are creating their own at HMP Garth, Lancs.
It can be made from solvents such as rat poison, which most jails have large supplies of to combat vermin.
Creative inmates are also brewing home-made booze – known as “hooch” – from bread and fruit left over after meals.
A report into conditions at the Category B jail said lags were making their own drugs as Covid-19 had affected supplies.
Inspectors said: “Illicit drug use predominantly involves new psychoactive substances (such as ‘spice’), some of which, it is believed, is manufactured in the prison.
“This is a cause of great concern because there is no reliable test for it and it is typically made from virtually any available solvent – even rat poison.
“Cannabis, heroin and other drugs are used on a limited basis. The brewing of ‘hooch’ continues to be a problem.”