An Open Access paper has just been published which discusses dog theft trends in the UK. Statistics from Direct Line Insurance also show the most frequently stolen breeds and the regional hotspots for theft.
Dogs are considered property under UK law, while current discourses of pet ownership place canine companions as part of an extended family. This means sentences for those who steal dogs are not reflective of a dogs’ sentience and agency, rather reflecting the same charges for those who steal a laptop or wallet. This is particularly problematic as dog theft is currently on the rise in England and Wales and led to public calls to change the law.
The paper shows the statistics of reported dog thefts from 2015 to 2017 and highlights the reduction in the proportion of cases where someone was charged by the Police.
According to the paper, there were police force inconsistencies in recording dog theft crime which meant some data was unusable or could not be accessed or analysed. The researchers say there is a need for a qualitative study to understand dog theft crime in different areas, and a standardised approach to recording the theft of a dog by all forces across England and Wales.
Allen, D.; Peacock, A.; Arathoon, J. Spatialities of Dog Theft: A Critical Perspective. Preprints2019, 2019030255 (doi: 10.20944/preprints201903.0255.v1).
Dog-ED: Social Enterprise 