It’s late at night, and a stranger walking down an alley sees your family dog sleeping on the porch inside your fenced yard. The stranger softly calls the dog over and begins to pet him. While checking to see if anyone is watching, he opens the gate, clips a leash to your dog’s collar and leads him away, never to be seen again. The next morning, your family is distraught; when a neighbor’s video surveillance reveals that your dog was stolen, you feel deeply violated.
While the emotions described are implied, the circumstances are not: Reports suggest that dog thefts are on the rise in the U.S..
Losing a pet can be devastating, and it’s a crime that has repercussions that go far beyond the animal’s financial value. Many dog owners view their dogs as members of their family; a 2020 study found that the loss of a pet can have a similar emotional impact to the loss of a loved one.
Ascriminologists, we wanted to better understand dognapping and dognappers, while pointing to some ways pet owners can keep their four-legged friends out of harm’s way.
In the videos we analyzed, about half of thefts seemed to involve a single perpetrator operating alone. Around 38% appeared to involve two perpetrators, while 9% involved three or more people working together.
The thefts appeared to usually involve some planning and strategy. In our sample, nearly 38% of thieves used vehicles to transport the stolen pets, approximately 3% used bicycles, and 50% fled on foot. Three incidents involved the use of violence – such as shoving the owner – and around 15% of the thefts included some form of force, such as breaking into a property. In roughly 37% of the cases, the thieves were able to hide the animal using bags, clothing or other methods.
Thieves sometimes deployed distraction techniques. In one case, two thieves distracted a pet store clerk while the other snatched a puppy from a display kennel by the front door.
The vast majority of incidents – 74% – involved the theft of a single animal, and these were usually small dogs. According to the American Kennel Club, certain breeds, such as French bulldogs and Yorkshire terriers, make more attractive targets; they’re relatively small, and they tend to sell for higher prices than other breeds.
Interestingly, only a handful of dogs nipped or barked as they were being whisked away. Over half appeared calm during the incident, while around 33% acted friendly toward the thieves.
About 68% of the thefts happened during the day, and 60% occurred indoors; those that occurred inside tended to happen in pet stores, rather than people’s homes. When the dognappings happened outside, the dogs were usually snatched from people’s front yards, where the pets could be seen from the street.
It’s late at night, and a stranger walking down an alley sees your family dog sleeping on the porch inside your fenced yard. The stranger softly calls the dog over and begins to pet him. While checking to see if anyone is watching, he opens the gate, clips a leash to your dog’s collar and leads him away, never to be seen again. The next morning, your family is distraught; when a neighbor’s video surveillance reveals that your dog was stolen, you feel deeply violated.
While the emotions described are implied, the circumstances are not: Reports suggest that dog thefts are on the rise in the U.S..
Losing a pet can be devastating, and it’s a crime that has repercussions that go far beyond the animal’s financial value. Many dog owners view their dogs as members of their family; a 2020 study found that the loss of a pet can have a similar emotional impact to the loss of a loved one.
Ascriminologists, we wanted to better understand dognapping and dognappers, while pointing to some ways pet owners can keep their four-legged friends out of harm’s way.