Pet detective vows ruff justice for dog thieves
HEARTLESS thieves are targeting valuable pet dogs who are being stolen to order from homes across the country.
Ireland’s only pet detective has reported a huge demand for his services in the wake of a spate of cruel thefts of ‘handbag dog’ breeds, which became popular in Ireland throughout the boom years.
Robert Kenny set up the Happy Tails Pet Detective agency, after he underwent specialist training in the US. He has spent the last eight years tracking down lost and stolen pets for distraught Irish owners. However, Mr Kenny has noticed a significant rise in animal thefts, particularly affecting certain breeds of ‘toy’ dogs over the past two years.
He told the Sunday Independent: “Anything that’s worth money will be taken. With animal theft in Ireland, predominantly 80pc of all those that go missing is dogs. But as a pet detective you are dealing also in missing cats and animals of all descriptions.
“The amount of animals being stolen has become much greater since the recession came into Ireland. People are now making a living out of stealing other people’s pets and unfortunately it’s on the rise.”
Smaller pets, such as the breeds made popular by celebrity dog lovers like Paris Hilton, are particularly at risk. In 2004, the blonde heiress’s beloved teacup Chihuahua ‘Tinkerbell’ was stolen from her home in Los Angeles, before the pooch was found after a poster campaign offered a $5,000 reward.
Robert said there are clear signs that indicate small dogs are now being ‘stolen to order’ in many parts of Ireland.
“Any pets which are small and easy to transport are the animals which are much more likely to be stolen,” he added.
“The type of dogs that are predominantly being stolen at the moment would be the likes of King Charles, Bichon Frise, Dachshunds. We dealt with one case recently where six Dachshunds were stolen in Co Laois. Anything that can be lifted will be.”
As a specialised pet detective, Robert uses a number of techniques in the quest to retrieve pets, including DNA analysis, forensics, satellite area surveying and pet behavioural profiling.
“The first thing that has to be done is it has to be worked out whether we are dealing with a lost or a stolen case,” Robert explains. “We wouldn’t take on any case that is over 10 days old, because you want to give everybody as good an opportunity as possible of recovering their pet.”
Although the likelihood of stolen pets being retrieved is much lower than pets which simply go missing, Robert estimates that he can only recover two in every five stolen pets.
“Tracking down stolen dogs is difficult,” he said. “They can be transported very quickly — a dog could be stolen in Dublin today and could be in Limerick tonight. They could also change hands more than twice on the same day.”
In a bid to keep them off the radar, thieves will often sell these stolen dogs to illegal puppy farms or for use in underground dog-fighting circuits.
“Thousands of dogs are stolen each year in the Republic of Ireland,” Robert adds.
“There is a huge demand for my work here and further afield too. I have worked in Cyprus, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, France, Germany and the USA. Animal theft is an international problem. The underground animal industry is a multimillion euro business.”
ISPCA chair Barbara Bent urged small dog owners to be be extra vigilant.
“Little dogs are being stolen all around the country,” she said. “So it is very important to have your dog micro-chipped and get them a little medal for their collar to say ‘I am micro-chipped,’ so you can prove they are your dog and also it discourages people from stealing them.”