DOGNAPPING

There has been a twenty per cent rise in canine thefts in the past two years-with Pets often being stolen for the black market in illegal dog fighting.Recently the most stolen breed has been the cocker spaniel,having lept in popularity because of Lupo,the favourite pet of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.Other dogs reguly dognapped include Jack Russels and Chihuahuas,which are considered desirable all across Europe and are easily sold.Often stolen pets will be brought by foreign laboratories for animal testing:others are kept for profitable breeding.It used to be simply an opportunistic crime-a dog was just snatched off of the street,attracted by a juicy bone into the back of a van.Today dog stealing is described by experts as more about organised criminals carefully selecting places like kennels,where their can be multiple thiefts of valuable dogs,solf off cheeper than going through a breeder.In England approximatly fifty thousand dogs are stolen each year.Dognapping ransoms have risen to an average of five hundrad pounds to two thousand pounds to get your dog back.They track valuable breeds or watch for well off familieswith deep emothional ties to their pet.Sadly only about five per cent of dognappers in the U.K. are caught and prosecuted.