There are cases of everything from stolen cattle and horses, which by the way is STILL a hanging offense here in Texas!!!, to stolen dogs of all breeds especially breeds that are high dollar returnees. A woman walked out of a pet store just last week, yet again, with two pug puppies in her bag....these are apparently an up and coming breed for thieves to make money on....they steal yorkies at any opportunity...from outside restaurants, sitting at cafe tables, when the owners STUPIDLY walk back into the cafe to get a refill on a drink or something....they are stolen from cars, they are stolen from yards, they are stolen from shopping carts in Home Depot. Years ago, I PERSONALLY had some woman ask to hold one of my dogs while I was shopping in Home Depot, and like an idiot, I let her....she bolted and I gave chase....jumping thru turnstiles and charging thru and around rows of items stacked for sale outside the store....I caught her in the parking lot and if the employees at Home Depot had not restrained me, she would have left in an ambulance, rather than a police car! Yorkies are a huge big ticket item here in Texas.....only one of several small breeds that thieves concentrate on.....and around the Holidays, it is absolutely treacherous and quite a challenge to watch out for thieves stealing anything they can get their hands on, and small dogs are in huge demand! We have more thieves that target small dogs than people that poison dogs....

Agreed! Dogs are stolen in Midland constantly. I'm from DFW and NEVER heard of theft like I do here. It's terrible and unfortunately yorkies are a high value dog that are easy to transport.

Oh Judy that is just awful!! :eek: I am horrified from your story! :( I had a long haired chi stolen from me and it was just terrible. One of my daughters was at camp when it happened, she was heartbroken. We filed a police report, he had a microchip and we plastered the town with fliers, followed up on tips- it turned out to be a very long story but a really heartbreaking experience. I am always so nervous with Lilah now because of that and I feel like my fear has limited some of her experiences and opportunities- but it is a very legitimate are real concern. Dog theft is rampant down here!

Gail, thank you for those article links. I look forward to reading them. It is a fascinating issue of often contrasting opinion which our communities debate.

Wow Judy and Alyssa Not sure what and how come the States are so different to Canada. I have only heard of one dog napping ring in Toronto who thankfully was finally caught - but big n small dogs were stolen for dog fighting rings!!! That is so very much more awfull. I would happily beat someone seriously if I knew they were into that dog fighting thing.

Razzle would be meat fodder ergo training fodder for the fighting dogs - Magic would be beaten and prodded until he turned vicious! Although it is hard for me to imagine anyone being able to take Magic willingly when he would be tied up. Maybe they use tranquillizer darts or something. Unfortunately Dara is much more trusting of humans and probably would go willing..... Much different temperament to my male.

How-ever I do not leave them alone even if I get dirty looks when I take my dogs into the washroom with me when we are hiking.

I've heard a lot of the dog thieves in Texas take the dogs to Canton to sell. I know when I had a friend whose dog went missing, she went to Canton the next time it was open to see if she could find him. Those people sell all kinds of dogs at Canton for unbelievable prices!

As for spay and neuter, I spayed Fallyn because she isn't breed quality, even though she showed, and I didn't want to mess with the heat cycle. Moxie isn't spayed because she is being shown, but if she turns out to not be breed quality, which I really doubt she will, she will be spayed also.

ABSOLUTELY!!! I even had a lady who I happened to mention that while I almost never had female puppies available, the little boys were harder to sell, she suggested I could take them to Canton and off load them at the Flea Market!!! OMG!!! I almost died!!! Seems they have an entire section that sells animals of all descriptions.......

not necessary, although it is recomended

Two perspectives noted in this thread that I resonated with.

A. having an intact dog for its life without ever being able to breed.
B. fixing your pet reduces the high dollar amount.

I can't count how many times people have told me I'm silly for spaying/neutering my pets because I can't gain a profit off them. Not for me and I even say that my dog has health issues (she doesn't) to reduce someone from wanting to steal her.

From what my dad tells me, they sell EVERYTHING at Canton. He says the animal side is called Dog Town??? He says they sell chickens, horses, pigs, just about everything you can think of. He says there are isles and isles of dogs being sold there. That must be puppy mill central!

I'm not neutering my puppy. I have him Chipped but now I'm wondering if the chip has a tracking device or not:confused:

I am not sure what you mean by a tracking device? Most chips as far as I am aware are static they do not broadcast actual location. Good vets should always scan a new dog to their practice for a chip -even if brought in by a long time client.

When I bring in new pups that I bought I am always asked for the paperwork and the puppy is always scanned = which I stay for and match up the chip numbers on my paperwork.

It is also a good idea on yearly check ups to scan for your chip - not many vets do this automatically. This will assure you that the chip is still functional and has not migrate too far from its original insertion point.

So I can't track the exact location of my pup if he is ever taken? That's wack.