Kent named second worst for dog thefts in the UK

New research has found that Kent Police recorded 138 dog thefts in 2023 while London has the most with 359.

At least 2,290 dogs were stolen in the UK last year according to Direct Line. That is another increase by 6%. Only 16% were found and returned to the dog owners.

One dog-owner who lives in Canterbury, said that it “would break his family” if his family dog was stolen.

He further added; “I wouldn’t want that to happen to my brother and sister as I wouldn’t want them to go through that trauma, it’s probably the worst thing ever.”

The breed that was stolen the most in the UK were the English bulldogs and French bulldogs.

The insurer company, Direct Line, stated that the criminals can sell these specific breed of dogs for around £3,000.

Whereas, the breed that was heavily targeted the most in Kent was the XL bully.

There were 692 reports that were made to Kent Police between 2018 and 2023.

The co-founder of dogsblog.com told BBC News that dog theft was “a crime that has a high reward” because of its low conviction rates.

He also said that; “stealing a dog essentially has the exact same legal implication as stealing somebody’s watch.”

Blue Cross identified some ways to prevent dog theft such as making sure that dogs are now microchipped.  It is now a legal obligation for dogs to be microchipped if they are over the age of eight weeks.

They also recommend that when walking your dog, your dog should be wearing a collar and an ID tag.

However, some thefts occur when the dog is alone at home. To stop this from happening in the future, Blue Cross advise dog owners to own CCTV cameras.