# The Gangs That Steal Your Puppies



## Vita (Sep 23, 2017)

VICE posted this video documentary a week ago.


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## Rose n Poos (Sep 22, 2017)

Always, some opportunists taking advantage, making a sad situation sadder.


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## WinnieThePoodle (Sep 1, 2020)

I started watching but just couldn't continue. It breaks my heart that this is going on.


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## Liz (Oct 2, 2010)

Heartbreaking


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## Vita (Sep 23, 2017)

It gets really interesting toward the end. The reporter visits the place where one of them lives, and the discovers he's kept one of the dogs and is very attached to it. She deftly interviews him about his feelings and how his victims feel the same way about their dogs. The man becomes flooded with guilt, you can tell he does not feel good about what he does. When you recall how these men all have prison records and think about the difficulty in getting a sustainable job, you get a broader idea of all the factors that contribute to the problem. Not excusing it, just understanding it better.


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## 94Magna_Tom (Feb 23, 2021)

I watched it. Very informative for me, I had no idea. Very sad. Is it similar in the USA?


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## Vita (Sep 23, 2017)

I personally haven't read or heard about large organized criminal dognappers in the US. However, ten years ago (too long a story to tell here), I did figure out that a neighbor and one of his siblings were involved in small time dog thefts and a variety of other crimes. But karma caught up with them both shortly afterwards, he's dead and last I heard, the other was arrested for very serious felony and is likely still in prison. 

What the US has the most are imports of purebreds from other countries, mainly Eastern Europe, often snuck in here directly or through Canada. They have no testing, and many don't survive the long trip b/c of the way they are packed up and transported.


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## Rupert's Poodle (Feb 27, 2021)

Yes: I have heard of organized dognappers here in US. Knew someone whose boxer pup was stolen. Talked to police about it and they were well aware of puppies being stolen in the area. I've thought about that... wondered how victims are selected. Obviously advertising, for example, a litter of English Bulldogs attracts theft. But IMO, and this is just suspicion I wonder if owners are followed from vet offices. After all, puppies, until full vaccinated, don't go out in public much. N dog park. No walkies. The police officers I talked to said that the dogs are typically stolen before they are neutered/spayed. So that's a fairly narrow window.


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

Rupert's Poodle said:


> The police officers I talked to said that the dogs are typically stolen before they are neutered/spayed. So that's a fairly narrow window.


Since dogs shouldn't be neutered/spayed until they are fully mature with bone plates closed and/or females having had one or more heat cycles- that window could easily be a year or more depending on the size of the dog.


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## TeamHellhound (Feb 5, 2021)

Evidently a Houston area Petland store (don't get me started on them....) had an attempted smash and grab robbery the other day. According to the news story, it's believed the would-be thieves were after some French Bulldog puppies that the store manager said they sell for $10,000. All I could think of was that is one heck of a mark-up....


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## Rupert's Poodle (Feb 27, 2021)

Frenchies are big bucks these days. The police I talked to said the cases they were looking into were dogs around 4-5 months. I'm thinking if you are a dog thief, you can't tell if a purebred (or any other dog for that matter) is spayed by just looking at them. Neuter is easier. But that means the younger the dog, the better bet that she is not fixed yet.


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