Calls to make dog theft a specific crime as 1,700 pets stolen in 2020
33 WERE TAKEN IN COUNTY AND ONLY HALF RECOVERED
If it is listed as a specific crime we can then look at crime hotspots and national trends
Mark Randell
CAMPAIGNERS are calling for dog theft to be made a specific crime as new figures show thieves stole dozens of pets in Leicestershire last year.
Currently, dogs are treated like any other stolen object, which means official recording of thefts can be patchy.
Figures obtained from Leicestershire Police show 33 reports of dogs being taken in 2020.
That was down from 48 in 2019. The figures obtained by Teamdogs. co.uk, following a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, show 17 of those dogs stolen in 2020 were recorded as having been recovered.
Out of 169 reports in the past five years, 97 saw dogs handed back to their owners – although this information may not be fully recorded by the police force.
Nationally, the heartbreaking figures suggest only one in four stolen dogs are ever recovered.
Only 23 per cent of 1,699 pets snatched in 2020 were reunited with their devastated owners, according to figures from all of the police forces that responded to the FOI request.
And, disturbingly, only a fraction of cases led to someone facing justice, with just 48 crimes prosecuted – three per cent of the 1,492 crimes that had an outcome recorded.
French bulldogs and Staffordshire bull terriers were the most popular targets for dog thieves.
According to the results of the FoI requests sent to police forces across England and Wales, the regions with the highest dog thefts are London, West Yorkshire and Kent.
London had 235 thefts reported in 2020, followed by West Yorkshire with 121 and Kent with 117.
Meanwhile, Direct Line figures for stolen dogs estimated 2,438 dogs had been taken across the UK in 2020. But dog campaigners fear the true horror of dog theft has yet to be revealed as the crime is listed by police in the same way as they would a stolen garden gnome.
They also believe dog theft is under-reported, as the public think police forces will not take it seriously.
Sir Bruce Forsyth’s eldest daughter Debbie Matthews has been campaigning for a change in the law, after her two terriers were stolen from her car in 2006.
“I was lucky. Because of my father I got them back,” she said.
“We did a live appeal on GMTV and both dogs had been sold on.”
Debbie, 65, added: “Dogs are priceless, irreplaceable members of our families and deserve to be treated with respect.
“We want dog theft made a specific crime in its own right. If they can do it for bicycles, they can do it for dogs. All the figures are desperately sad and just show you we need the government to step in and help the public.
“It’s got to another level now. “We’ve all been talking about it for so long. People are afraid to walk with their dogs, afraid to talk about their dogs or share photographs of them.
“That shouldn’t be, that’s one of the joys we have.”
The 1,699 thefts of dogs in 2020 reported to the police forces across England, Wales and Northern Ireland who responded to the FOI was very similar to the 1,707 reported in 2019. More than half of reported dog thefts (51 per cent) in 2020 were closed without a suspect being identified (756 out 1,492 with recorded outcomes)
Just three per cent of cases in 2020 led to someone facing consequences for their actions – 48 out of 1,492 that had an outcome recorded, with 39 leading to someone being charged, five community resolutions, two cautions, three penalty notices for disorder and one “diversionary, educational or intervention activity”.
The most common location for dog thefts, at 43 per cent, was from the home, with gardens coming second at 18 per cent.
Around one in 11 dogs (nine per cent) were stolen by someone the owner knew, including former partners, friends and people looking after their dog.
One in 12 dogs (eight per cent) were taken from a park or open space or from the street.
Former Detective Inspector, Mark Randell, from Stolen and Missing Pets Alliance, who has a background in crime analysis, is also campaigning for a change in the law.
He said: “Dog theft needs to be recorded as a specific crime by every police force.”
He said at the moment dog theft comes under “theft other”, which can include anything from wheelbarrows to a garden gnome.
“The first thing you need is the correct data so you can look at crime hotspots and can tackle it as one crime problem,” he said.
“At the moment we are relying on unreliable figures. If it is listed as a specific crime we can then look at crime hotspots and national trends.
“Quite clearly dog theft is a big issue and it is quite clearly underreported. Sometimes people don’t report crimes because they don’t think anything is going to be done about it. They don’t think the police will help and until recently they probably haven’t.”
Following a spate of thefts recently, a Leicestershire Police spokesman said: “While this latest information shows there has been a decrease in reports, officers continue to carry out inquiries into the recent reports and continue to monitor how the crimes are affecting the force area as a whole.”
Assistant chief constable Julia Debenham said: “We know these incidents are extremely distressing for owners and raise high concern among other dog owners.
“Many of us in force are dog owners ourselves and we know the important part pets play in your family. Our work around these crimes has shown a decrease in reports made to us but our teams do still continue to carry out their work and inquiries around these crimes.”