With dog theft rising by 24% over the last three years, DogLost members are being urged to ensure their MPs attend the Dog Theft Awareness Day in Westminster in March.
Hosted by Dartford MP, Gareth Johnson, The Stolen and Missing Pets Alliance – of which DogLost is a part – aims to bring the issue to the forefront of MPs across the country.
Gareth has already raised the issue in Parliament and is keen to support the Alliance’s work to encourage tougher sentences for those involved in the crime.
MPs will be invited to drop in to the day, which will include presentations by celebrity vet, Marc Abraham and police officers leading the offensive against the surging crime.
Dog owners are being asked to contact their MP and urge them to attend the day, which is on Tuesday 14 March. Anyone who has been a victim of the crime should send a photo of their dog and get their MP to bring it along.
MPs are also being asked to sign the Alliance’s pledge to combat the heartless crime and back tougher sentencing and compulsory scanning of microchips.
Said an Alliance spokesperson: “The crime is largely unpunished as few cases reach court, and because dogs are regarded as goods any sentence reflects the value of the dog not the impact on the victim who has lost a member of their family.”
Continued an Alliance spokesperson: “Police statistics very across the country and are simply the tip of the iceberg. They show how a force records dog theft rather than the size of the problem. Neither do they record the crime of ‘Theft by finding’ where a dog goes missing and is picked up and sold on or kept as a pet or for breeding.”
The four organisations comprising SAMPA are DogLost – the country’s largest reunification organisation; Pet Theft Awareness; the Dog Union and Vets Get Scanning – run by Sir Bruce Forsyth’s daughter, all of whom have a common interest in pet theft.
