Just learned this morning that friends'3 year old male Great Pyrenees (sire of our male) disappeared nearly 3 weeks ago. They have posted flyers, run ads, called neighbors and the humane society and tramped all over the area to no avail. They found a dump of deer bones about 2 miles from their house with all manner of dog tracks around it. The lady at the humane society said this was a prime method for thieves to gather a group of dogs to steal and sell illegally (well, they do go through the motions of following USDA guidelines)to labs, etc. She also advised my friend that as good as tattoos or microchipping is for identification in an above board ownership dispute, they are often useless in retrieving stolen dogs because dogs discovered with them are disposed of immediately. She suggested getting breakaway collars for all dogs and attaching a large tag that reads I'M MICROCHIPPED. The "bunchers" usually dont' bother with dogs so identified.

As upset as I am for them over their loss, I'm horrified to learn that Missouri is #1 in dog thefts and that people from all over come here for the illegal "auctions." My dogs are chipped but you can bet the next time I'm near a pet store or get a catalog, I'm going to find some collars and tags.

When my brother started med school, his first job was to destroy the vocal cords of the lab dogs so they couldn't whine, howl or cry. I told him in no uncertain terms what I thought about the practice, repeating and repeating and repeating the same "experiments," and basically what I thought of him in general because I'd raised him to be a reasonable animal lover. To top it off, he was aware of the irregularities in the acquisition of the animals. So much for ethics.

-- marilyn (rainbow@ktis.net), January 19, 2001

Answers

Response to stolen dog

We have been told to watch our dogs also gp because of thier size they are often stolen to train pit bulls. We had a rash of large breeds being stolen a few years ago,they were found dead at a dog fighting house in PA. No one was found guilty,of course.

-- renee oneill{md.} (oneillsr@home.com), January 19, 2001.

Response to stolen dog

I'm not surprised...my blackmouth cur (the breed that old yeller was from) was stolen and he doesn't like strangers..he will bark at them and then run away barking. I had given him a new home due to moving to a place that had dog limits. The new owner really liked him and showed him off alot so I suspect the owners' friends stole him but he refuses to admit it. I told him he will find the dog..but then again there is a hog dog theft ring going on because people pay alot of money for a well trained hog hunting dog...$800 to high as $3000 dollars. But the funny thing is my dog is dumb as a rock...took me a year to teach him to sit on command! He liked kids more than anything so I didn't sell him or trade him. I don't think I will do any more dog trading but only to qualified individuals but that is very rare that I do that anyway.

Ted

-- Ted Hart (tedhart71@hotmail.com), January 19, 2001.

Response to stolen dog

You are absoulutely correct Marilyn with regards to dog thefts in Mo. , not to mention the puppy pounds.. The local law enforcement KNOWS it is going on and yet they are still up and running..It's disgusting!!

-- Lynn (mscratch@semo.net), January 19, 2001.

Response to stolen dog

One of the first things I hear when a dog comes up missing is that somebody, or some group, or some gang stole the dog.

A pretty poor substitute for keeping proper control of a dog.

If you let them run loose they might get stolen. They might also get run over, shot, poisoned, or killed by other strays. Owners choice not the choice of the animal.

-- Ed Copp (OH) (edcopp@yahoo.com), January 19, 2001.

Response to stolen dog

We had a lot of stolen hunting dogs in our area about fifteen years ago.A dog in heat was used to lure the males.One of our hunting dogs did come back home, his feet were very sore so he had to have traveled some distance.

-- Bettie Ferguson (jobett@dixie-net.com), January 19, 2001.

Response to stolen dog

The blackmouth cur was behind a fenced 2 acre area. HE won't jump a fence due to an incident when he was a puppy..he and my other male catahoula both tried to jump the fence and got both of their weiners stuck!! Had to take them both to the vet...the vet laughed so hard he had to take a fifteen minute break...they both had to have their private areas splinted as they do have a bone there compared to humans. They never jumped the fence again but the male catahoula would rip the hinges to go after a strange dog or critter while the blackmouth cur would dig but if he was by himself he won't dig. I prefer to keep dogs that will guard the property...I wait till they're grown and understand that they're supposed to stay on the property before I let them run loose..usually after a year of age. That's the primary reason why people let their dogs run loose but some people have ruined it for others. The GP must have been guarding goats or whatnot when it was lured away or a young inexperienced male. It's impossible to lure a grown male GP away..I've tried to test a friend's GP in a manner of speaking..he wouldn't so I assume the GP was young.

Ted

-- Ted Hart (tedhart71@hotmail.com), January 19, 2001.

Response to stolen dog

Ted, Max was about 3 1/2 and never showed an interest in females other than Penny's although there is a first time for everything. He had a regular route he patrolled with a litter mate of my dog, some in sight of the highway, most on their own land. The "partner" returned home that night but my friend said she appeared somewhat traumatized, wary and fearful and it lasted for several days. However, I'm like you or someone else who mentioned not letting the dogs out. Mine are behind electric fences that we did our best to train them to respect.

It's always the animal that suffers rather than an owner especially if it's a critter harming a neighbor's animals. When we lived in Arkansas, the practice was called the 3 S's--shoot, shovel and shut up.

-- marilyn (rainbow@ktis.net), January 19, 2001.

Response to stolen dog

Just wanted to add my two bits. I live in Wisconsin on a small hobby farm. (Goats,chickens,dogs,cats) We just can't let our dogs run loose. The highway in front of our property has claimed too many lives. But it is also a well know highway for dog napping. Just in the last month I have seen 4 postings for lost dogs. Please keep your dogs identified!!! I know it isn't practical to expect owners to keep their dogs leashed constantly.(especially out in the country (especially on a farm). Can't tell you how many dogs we have found in our little corner of the world. I called our village dog catcher once to see if he could help. He said all he would do was "shoot-em and throw-em in the burn pile!" Not what I was hoping for. So we keep them and try to find their owners. Most of who don't even care that we have been housing, feeding, and caring for their pets.

-- amanda (goatmomx2@yahoo.com), January 23, 2001.

Response to stolen dog

I think that the best way to keep your dog from being killed or stolen is to keep it confined. Our useless doggy is tied on a long run most of the time. When we are outside, he is loose. I also sometimes leave him loose for a couple of hours before his mealtime. Yes, we live in the country, but it is still against the law to let your dog unsupervised.

-- Ardie from Wi (a6203@hotmail.com), January 23, 2001.

I've been hearing a lot in the news lately about dogs being stolen and sold for medical experiments. In my small community (way out in the boonies) I know of 3 dogs that have came up missing that were unusual. Someone told me the other day that someone can get $50 per dog. Lots of people that do this kind of thing get their dogs from 'free pet' adds. They talk about having a nice fenced yard and how they will treasure your pet and then turn around and sell them. I've only had one dog stolen. I know he was stolen because he was taken from his pen. I raised this dog from a puppy. I carried him around on my shoulder until he got too big to carry. He was an unusually large pit bull. He didn't have any of the pit bull tendencies though. He was friendly towards other dogs and liked everyone...very easy going. I think that is why they stole him. I'm pretty sure it was someone who had been to the ranch(we lived on a sporting clay and certified birding ranch so there were lots of folks around). I just pray they didn't take him and make him mean for pit fighting. When I lived in Texas people had problems with pure breed dogs being stolen. I lived near one of the largest trades day in the US and they had a special section just for animals. Many times the stolen dogs were taken here and sold. It is a shame you have to guard your dog even when it is inside of your fence.

-- Amanda in Mo (aseley@townsqr.com), January 26, 2001.

Oh Amanda, that is so sad! Our dog come into the house at night. I figure he is safest in here, even if he is in a back hall. I have to add though that one day I forgot him loose and he went into the woods and "helped" our neighbor hunt wild turkey. I'm glad I have a kind-hearted neighbor cause he must have been a big help!

-- Ardie from Wi (a6203@hotmail.com), January 26, 2001.

I live in south central Missouri and about every other year alot of dogs are stolen at the same time. On our local news the labs that use dogs in Arkansas said we buy dogs from peple who bring them in for 20 $ but we don't want people's pets we check for micro chip's and if the dog has one we contact the owner to come get it at our loss. All three of my dogs are fixed (because of the puppy mills out here) and are micro chiped.

-- Teresa (c3ranch@hotmail.com), June 04, 2001.