Rise of the cat rustler
Up to 360,000 moggies have been stolen in a year with Bengals top of thieves’ list
CAT thefts have soared by 40 per cent in the past two years, with the huge leopard-like Bengal breed the most likely to be stolen.
Researchers claim up to 360,000 people blame thieves for the loss of their pet in the past 12 months.
Bengals – a breed beloved of celebrities such as Liz Hurley and Donatella Versace – along with common domestic shorthairs and Russian Blues are proving the most popular among thieves. London, Kent and West Yorkshire are hotspots for thefts, and less than a fifth (18 per cent) of cats reported stolen are recovered by the police, compared to 21 per cent of stolen dogs.
Analysis by Direct Line Pet Insurance reveals the number of cats reported as stolen has jumped by 40 per cent from 2014 to 2016.
Based on a poll of 2,000 cat owners and extrapolating the findings over the whole country, researchers found that 360,000 cats are believed to have been stolen in the past 12 months. Of those, more than half (55 per cent) were returned to their owners, either as a result of them being found by someone else or because they were microchipped.
While the majority of police forces (68 per cent) recorded the breed of dog stolen when taking a report of theft in 2016, just a quarter of forces recorded the breed of cat. Bengals, Russian Blues and Siamese kittens are sold for upwards of £350 each, making them attractive targets for potential thieves.
Prit Powar, head of pet insurance at Direct Line, said: ‘It is very difficult for owners to know exactly where their cat is all the time due to the large distances they wander. If an owner believes their cat is missing, they should first check the immediate vicinity, as well as asking local people if they have seen it. If their cat is still missing, owners should contact their local animal warden.
‘Stealing dogs and cats is becoming an increasingly popular crime as it is difficult to track the animals down and they can be sold on or bred from for significant amounts of money. We urge cat owners to make it as difficult for would-be thieves as possible. Keep your details up to date on the microchip database and let thieves know that the cat is neutered. Putting this information on the tag connected to their collar helps the pet become “too hot to handle”.’