FenTiger

I can't believe the number of dogs and puppies being stolen in the UK. They seem to be the new 'get rich quick' scheme for criminals.
Back in September the police raided a traveller site and found 49 stolen dogs! Across the UK similar happening at non-traveller sites. The other day someone posted on FB about two guys driving around in a white van with RSPCA sticker. These two guys were challenging dog owners their dog was stolen and they needed to take it away to check the chip.
Is this unique to only the UK?

scot47

Allegations on Radio Scotland yesterday that similar was happening in Glasow witha van marked "Scottish SPCA". An urban myth ? Evidence ? There have been warnings not to leave dogs tied up unattended outside supermarkets.

FenTiger

I've never understood why dog owners tie their dogs outside shops or supermarkets. That's asking for their dog to be stolen! Saw it alot when living in UK.

mikelincs

I couple of young men were petting a youn Belgian Mallinois dog just recently, they tried to grab the lead and run off with it, however the dog had a different idea, Mallinois are regularly used as Police dogs and Military dogs, and this one took action barking, snarling, showing it's teeth to the thieves, they ran off closely persued by the dog till it was called back. I wish the dog had caught them No doubt, had it caught them and grabbed on of them there would have been calls to have it put down.

FenTiger

Was this in UK or Hungary?
We have a sprocker and alot of them are being stolen in the UK. Luckily for us he only goes up to people he knows. He's been neutered so no chance of using him for breeding.
My wife has a cousin who lives in Miskolc and he had a golden retriever stolen quite some years ago.

wolfi

Aren't dogs chipped nowadays?
We brought our wonderful Malinois/GSD mix Alexa (after 16 years she now crossed the rainbow bridge) to a new vet here in Hungary and that was the first thing she checked. I hadn't expected this in a small city 18 years ago ...
PS:
We got the young dog from our gardener. Her mother was a GSD and when people asked about the dog (Malinois are not as well known here in Hungary) I would say:
Her father was a Belgian tourist ...

mikelincs

It was in the UK. Currently there is a petition being put to the government to make it a requirement of all vets to scan the chips on all dogs and cats they get in for treatment, currently it's very hit and miss, and a number of stolen dogs have been foundwhen a vet does do the scanning. The problem is that there are several chip systems, and not all can be read by the same scanner.

ArekDeBoss

Its not for breeding. Its a bait for training dogs for dog fights.
Its quite big in the UK. As a veternarian I have seen few cases like that.

Peter_in_Hungary

It's a bit better here than in the UK - For some years now it has been a requirement for all dogs to be chipped and as all dogs must have a rabies jab every year and councils have to keep a track of dogs for this purpose the result is that all dogs have their chips read once a year. Of course it doesn't prevent someone buying a stolen dog but if they pay money for their dog they are going to get it jabbed annually rather than try to keep it hidden to avoid the expense. (Our vet does the jab and gives a worming tablet into the bargain).

ArekDeBoss

Thiefs grabbing dogs for dog fights do not care for microchips etc. And puppies stolen early do not have to have chops yet ( 8 weeks of age in the UK) . So microchipping them is not going to keep them safe in that aspect. Unfortunately in the UK there is too many people having animal's lifes in complete disregard.

scot47

Seems that Hungary is a more advanced and more civilised country than Blighty !

scrubbedexpat142

It certainly is!

wolfi

But in some respects at least some Hungarians are 50 years behind, especially re animals!
Every day we walk through the village and see several dogs in small kennels (2 times 3m) and some on a chain - for two of them large dogs the chains are less than 3m!
And we asked someone in our street his dog's and cat's names because the animals are so friendly - they don't have names!
And some people don't take their animals to the vet when ill - one told us that he shot his sick dog!
On the other hand more and more people treat their animals well - they take their dogs for a walk through the village eg which was almost unheard of when I came here 20 years ago.

Peter_in_Hungary

For some time it has been illegal to keep dogs on chains 24/7 but like e.g. using mobile phones whilst driving it requires enforcement.

Different people have different attitudes to animals, which is not to say they are wrong, I look at my animals in mostly economical terms and then in quality of life (the animals) I won't have animals in the house, they are all outside - cats, dogs, poultry, cows and horses. And yes the cats and dogs are treated the same as the rest - appropriately for their needs.

FenTiger

In all the years I had been coming to Hungary I never saw a dog being walked in the village but then again it was mostly in August when we were here and too hot to walk a dog. A month after coming out of quarantine, beginning of August last year, I started to see dogs being walked but not on our road. I think we may have influenced some of the dog owners on our road as the numbers are slowly increasing. Walking around the village it's obvious most have not been socialised with other dogs as ours walks coolly past them!