Watch Tip for week of June 13

Watch out for dog thieves in your neighborhood. They might steal dogs to sell to research facilities or to use as bait to train fighting dogs. They might steal intact females to breed and sell her puppies. They might steal cute little purebred dogs to sell at flea markets. They will steal in broad daylight from your front yard. They will break into your home to steal your dogs when you work. Spread the word and protect your pets!

Service dog stolen near Viroqua WI on May 25… will she ever be found?

A family is searching frantically for a white female pit bull who was apparently stolen from the yard in late May near a small southwest Wisconsin town. She is a service dog. Sweet, beautiful, wearing ID, and not one to wander, she has been missing for almost three weeks. Is she tied to a post in an old barn somewhere, where she will be bred as soon as she comes into heat? Or is she already dead, killed by another dog in a dog fight training ring? Maybe she is already living in a cage in a research facility, lonely and afraid.

It can happen in a minute or less. Your friendly dog is sniffing around in your front yard and you are busy in the basement. A car stops, and someone leads your dog into the car with a treat, and then speeds off. No one saw it happen. Your dog didn’t bark or bite the stranger; her calm and friendly nature sealed her doom.

The bully or pit bull type breeds are especially likely to be stolen by dog fighters and breeders. In metropolitan areas, dog fighters will break into homes and apartments to steal pit bulls. Smaller dogs like Beagles and mixed breed dogs, called “random source dogs,” are often stolen by “bunchers” or Class B dog dealers to sell to animal research laboratories. Back yard breeders will steal popular purebreds to add to their operation, and even if your female is spayed the scar is hard to see. Thieves will take the chance and wait for a while for her to come into heat. If she doesn’t, she will be dumped or killed one way or another.

Do you think it can’t happen to your dog? Or in your neighborhood? It just happened a few miles from my house!!! That lovely, friendly service dog may never be seen again, but the search continues every day. I’ll post again if she is found.