Metro News - Newspaper Online - formerly Toorak Metro News Victoria au newspaper Melbourne south eastern Bayside Melbourne

You’d be hard put to find anything lower than those types. Late last year it was reported that that 30 dogs disappear each week, feared stolen. The report rightly observed that these dog thieves are breaking their owners’ heart.

Some thefts are audacious. As one owner walked in the park her Jack Russell companion dog drifted over to a strip close to the adjacent roadway. A car pulled up.

The driver leaped out of his car, grabbed the friendly dog that had wandered over to say hello, threw it into his car, jumped back in, and drove off. The theft took less than thirty seconds to accomplish.

Then there are those who would like the company of a dog themselves but are not prepared to pay because stealing one is cheaper.

Dognappers

Others “dognap” them and if a reward is offered, they return them and claim that they found them straying.

As one victim told us: “It’s hard enough to lose a beloved animal, it’s harder still when you don’t know what happened to it, where it is, and how it’s being treated.”
Some time ago, The Lost Dogs Home admitted a jack russell that had been found wandering late at night. Our microchip scanner gave us the name and contact of its rightful owner.

She told us that her dog had been missing for over two years! It appeared to have been reasonably well looked after during that time but seemed overjoyed when returned to his real home.

Not many stolen dogs are so fortunate.

Perhaps more would be if every owner made sure that their pets were microchipped and the details were listed on the National Pet Register.

That way the dog only need get away from the thief, or the person who purchased it from the thief, to have a more than sporting chance of being restored to its family.
If you love your cat – tag it!

Victorian cats found wandering around away from home without council tags may be seized and impounded and their owners fined up to $104.81.

The State Government believes that the legislation (which has applied for a year now) provides a further incentive for owners to register and identify their cats so that if they become lost or impounded they can be returned without delay.

It is already apparent, from the Home’s experience, that this law has resulted in a substantial reduction in the numbers of cats put down in pounds and shelters every year because they can’t be identified and returned to their owners.

The more widespread instances of identifiable cats also enable councils to differentiate between unowned and owned cats, and to deal more swiftly and effectively with stray cat nuisance issues.

A brochure titled “If you love your cat, tag it!” explains the legislative changes. It also provides tips for finding a lost cat.

They are free and available from most councils in Victoria or from the animal welfare office of the Department of Primary Industries (03) 9217 4347.