Christmas Puppies
While we here at Two Little Cavaliers do not look highly on those who breed their pets for money and advertise them in any classified they can manage there is something we tolerate even less and that is the theft of those puppies — well any puppy really. But that is exactly what is going on around the world thefts are occurring in record number. People stealing puppies as close as the next town over to as far away as the UK and all the way to Russia. People with their Christmas litter of puppies are advertising them in the Classifieds and when the people show up to look at the puppies to see if they want one from the litter for Christmas they arrive with a gun or knife and steal a puppy or two sometimes the entire litter of puppies. Or they use the opportunity to look around the place and come back when the puppy seller is out at work or off to the store.
Over the summer both the American Kennel Club and the Kennel Club (of the UK) issued warnings that theft of dogs was up significantly due to the economy. Apparently those numbers are rising even more with people desperate for something under their tree this Christmas. Some of the dogs being stolen are kept by the thieves and some are then sold via classified ads or out the back of cars in store parking lots. Many times these puppies are barely old enough to be eating solid food and should not be away from their mother’s yet and even if they are old enough to be away from them they should be in a loving quiet environment.
A few things you can do to avoid the unthinkable:
1. Do not advertise puppies or adults dogs in the classified section where you have no control over who reads the ad and responds.
2. If you have to re-home a pet for any reason meet in a public place like the closest pet store where the potential new owners can meet you and the dog without you opening your home to a complete stranger you know nothing about.
3. If you are having work done on your house keep your pets safe in an area where workers are not going back and forth. No reason to tempt anyone
4. If you are out walking with your dog and a stranger approaches you that does not look like they belong don’t divulge information about your dog. If they press for information and it just doesn’t feel right make something up about all the medication and vet treatment your dog needs.
5. If you are selling your house and having people come through for open houses either take your pets out of the house for the day or leave them in a room with the door closed and a sign on it saying dogs loose do not enter. Anyone interested in your house will come back again at which point you can move the pets into a different room so they can see the closed off room if it is really important.
