Holding Dogs for Ransom

by Stephanie Feldstein · 2010-02-19 09:00:00 UTC
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Sometimes a dog goes missing and a well-meaning person takes the "stray" into her home, assuming no one is looking for him. But in other cases, the disappearance of dogs isn't so innocent.

Dog theft is more common than many people want to believe. Since dogs are considered property, it's hard to pin down exact numbers, but some statistics put the number of pet thefts at 2 million per year. The reasons vary, from pit bulls stolen by aspiring dog fighters to black dogs abducted for cult rituals. Toy breeds can be vulnerable because they may be seen as valuable; large breeds can become the target of Class B Dealers who sell them for research. And, as recent news stories remind us, any breed can be taken for ransom.

Scooby, a 2-year-old golden retriever, and Scrappy, a 13-month-old poodle, disappeared from a Silver Spring, Maryland backyard last week. When Gloria Chicas received the ransom call, she quickly agreed to pay hundreds of dollars to get her dogs back. But the dognapper didn't show up for the rendezvous.

That's when she called the police. Unfortunately, it was too late for Scooby. The responding officers found his body, apparently hit by a car, near the house. Scrappy still had a chance, though, and Officer Rodriguez went undercover, pretending to be Chicas' nephew. The dognapper agreed to set up another meeting to swap Scrappy for the ransom money. The sting worked: Scrappy was safely rescued from an accomplice's car parked nearby and the dognapper was arrested.

In the same week, another dog ransom story hit the media, this time in Brooklyn, New York. Not long after Sugar, the Belman Family's French bulldog/basset hound mix vanished, the call came in demanding money. The negotiations didn't get very far before the man hung up. Six distressing days later, Sugar was found tied to a tree in the park.

The moral isn't that you need to add a ransom fund to the annual cost of having a dog, but you do need to be aware that dogs face stranger danger, too. Just use common sense: Don't leave your dog unattended in the yard or car, don't let her roam the neighborhood, don't tie her to the parking meter while you run in for a latte. Your dog relies on you to keep her safe and keep her home.

Photo credit: greenkozi

Stephanie Feldstein is a Change.org Editor who has been part of the animal welfare and rescue community for over a decade, and most recently worked for an environmental organization.
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