Pooches and smooches: A dognapping ends happily at Newark shelter
Great news that these two little Corgis have been found safe and sound. As the article mentions, there does seem to have been a spike in the thefts of purebred dogs in the last year or two. It's hard to account for the increased thefts. Although perhaps it is true that some stolen dogs end up as bait in dogfighting rings, it's hard to see why purebred dogs would be more likely targets than any other dogs. And it's harder to sell dogs to laboratories than most people think. Selling to labs is federally regulated and the dealers must be licensed. The dogs they sell to labs are supposed to come from known sources, though that may not always be true. Most, if not all, states regulate these dealer sales to labs, too, cutting down the incentive to steal pets.
I have a suspicion that if we could check out the facts we might find that there has been an increase in all kinds of dog theft for personal reasons: people take dogs because they see one that they like, whether it's a purebred or a mixed breed. Look at the mayor of Alice, Texas, who stole her neighbor's dog and lied about it, telling them that the dog was dead. People are stealing dogs because they think they're "rescuing" them. There's really something bad going on in this country and I wouldn't be surprised if the increase in showdog thefts has to do with people who don't like dog shows. Maybe they see dogs in crates and misguidedly think that it's cruel. Or they think that it's wrong to ever leave a dog in a vehicle, when, in fact, as long as a dog is not in distress from heat and is properly cared for, there is nothing wrong with having a dog in a vehicle for a period of time. (When you travel with your pet, as people do when they go to dog shows, there are times when they have to take restroom breaks or run into a building for a few minutes. That is not unkind to the dog as long as they take proper precautions.)
I think there's much more to these dognapping stories. At any rate, please be careful with your dogs, whether they are purebred or mixed breed. There are some bad or confused people out there who might cross the line and decide to take a dog.
From the Star-Ledger in New Jersey.
Pooches and smooches: A dognapping ends happily at Newark shelter
Thursday, March 27, 2008
BY SHARON ADARLO
Star-Ledger Staff
When two prize-winning corgis waddled into the spotlight at a Newark animal shelter yesterday, a smile spread across Faye Adcox's face, and she fell to her knees and embraced them.
"Mommy is here. Mommy is here," Adcox said as Daddy Warbucks and Sammy leaped on her legs and gave her wet, sloppy kisses. Tired from crying over her stolen dogs and stiff from a long drive to claim them after they were recovered, Adcox was relieved — and skeptical.
The reunion between the Delaware woman and her corgis marked the second time this month that stolen show dogs have surfaced in Newark.
Adcox's corgis were swiped from a locked pickup truck parked outside an Edison deli Saturday after the animals participated in a dog show at Raritan Center.
Daddy Warbucks and Sammy were recovered yesterday after a woman who said she found them five days ago called the Newark Humane Society, said Roseann Trezza, the agency's executive director. The woman said she didn't want the dogs anymore.
In another dognapping, on March 1 in Secaucus, Pounder, a 170-pound mastiff, was taken from a locked SUV just before she was to compete in a show at the Meadowlands Exposition Center. The prized show dog also was returned to her owners a few days later, after a Pennsylvania couple said they found the animal cowering alongside a Newark highway.
"It's very suspicious," Adcox said of the two dognappings and the animals' mysterious reappearances. She said she still has questions about how all three dogs were found.
Trezza, who did not have the name of the woman who returned the corgis, said city animal-control officers retrieved the dogs from the woman's Summer Avenue home and brought them to the shelter.
The Humane Society director had heard about the missing corgis and notified Adcox. She scanned a microchip embedded in Daddy Warbucks and sent digital pictures of him and Sammy to Adcox.
When the images appeared on her computer screen at her Wyoming, Del., home, Adcox immediately knew the shelter dogs were her "babies."
"I was absolutely thrilled," she said. "I have been shaking so bad since they called."
Adcox said she and her husband, Richard, rushed to Newark.
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"I will sleep tonight and have the dogs with me," Adcox said.
The abductions are part of a spike in purebred dog thefts across the country that have people in the dog world alarmed.
Trezza, who gets a daily tally of stolen dogs, said reports of pilfered purebred canines have risen in the past two months in New Jersey.
The American Kennel Club, the nation's top registry for purebred dogs, also has been tracking the increase in thefts. In 2007, nine cases of stolen pooches were reported. So far this year, there have been almost two dozen reported cases.
"It's scary because you don't know the reason behind it," Trezza said. "Some people steal animals for a pet, or they want to start breeding them, or mistreat them."
Purebred dogs may range in value from $1,000 for puppies to more than $10,000 for prize-winning adult dogs. Some purebreds may earn up to $50,000 in their lifetimes for breeding services. Lisa Peterson, spokeswoman for the AKC, has said greed appears to be the primary factor in the spike of dog thefts, though some might be attributed to pet fanatics.
Stolen dogs that are not sold as pets may meet a horrific fate, according to several breeders. Some are sold to research laboratories and others wind up as bait in dog-fighting rings.
Yesterday, Adcox's corgis appeared happy and healthy. In fact, Sammy, the wallflower, did not even cower from the news cameras that captured her reunion with Adcox.
Instead, she waddled toward the cameramen and preened for the klieg lights.
Staff writer Tom Haydon contributed to this report. Sharon Adarlo may be reached at (732) 404-8081 or sadarlo@starledger.com.
