Just been hearing it on radio 1..poor dogs

In my view Staffies are top of the list because they are the dog most likely to walk off with a stranger, tail wagging, asking no questions. The chief motive for stealing a dog is to sell it back to the owner in a modified version of 'ransom'. Some Police claimed they felt the dogs were being stolen in order to commit crimes or act as intimidating 'weapons'. I find this laughable and, frankly, wrong. By definition a dog who was truly aggressive, truly intimidating would NOT be easy to steal.

As for those involved in dog fighting, again I think this a red herring. Sadly, those involved in this horrific sick excuse for a 'hobby' do go to great lengths to breed their own dogs in a certain way, they feed them very specific diets, are very clued up on bloodlines, weights and in a perverse way they tend to know an awful lot about fighting dogs. The idea that they would steal a family pet off the street in order to get it to fight would be like me stealing a random pet Labrador and try and make it into a Field Trial Champion.

I worry that the Police are not on top of what the real motive is here. It's money, plain and simple. Dog thieves have got a crime which they have very little risk of being caught let alone prosecuted for. The rewards are potentially huge as they sell the dog back to its rightful owner and unless people become totally aware that this crime is on the rise and the reasons for it, it will grow. The Police need to get a clue and stop suggesting things that they have absolutely no evidence for.

I am prepared to offer an open challenge to any Policeman out there to see how easy it is to walk away with say 8 out of every 10 Staffies. As most people know, they are one of THE most people friendly dog breeds in the world (fair enough, they can occasionally be dog aggressive but a people aggressive one is highly rare). I would then ask the same Policeman to try and 'steal' a friend of mine's Malinois from his garden. It does not make sense at all that people steal Staffies in order to commit crimes or initimidate people. It would be like wearing a Spongebob Squarepants mask to try and scare children.

What a fantastic post! and so true!  

Unfortunately every time a pet lover coughs up the ransom for their kidnapped dog encourages the practice of dog napping even more.

The way to discourage it is to make sure that all dogs are either tattood or microchipped then at least there is proof of ownership.  And make the dog in question too hot to handle.

Most dogs are stolen purely for the ransom, they wait until the reward posters go up and then get in touch.

My mum just rang her partner normally works from home but he has to go out on business tomorrow and she is scared to leave the door open to let him in and out in case he gets nicked so i have to go over and let him out for her!!

A very good post K9media.

I fear you might be wrong about the dog fighting bit tho.
I had heard non fighting dogs are used to  kind of warm up the crowd before the big show  It truly doesn't bare thinking of.
I really really wish something could be done about these animals (the ones without four legs) It makes me feel physically sick to think how some people behave.

a lady i new years ago had her dog taken, it was found on waste ground dumpped (dead) it had been used in fighting.