According to new research released today, unscrupulous thieves are stealing cats and dogs from all over the UK at an alarming rate.
The UK’s first ever Pet Theft Census, from MORE TH>N Pet Insurance, reveals how one in every five (20 per cent) of cat and dog owners have experienced the theft of a pet during their lives, with 53 per cent of those incidents occurring in the last 12 months alone. What’s more, of all cat and dog thefts in Britain, over half (54 per cent) of owners have sadly never seen their beloved pets again.
The research, conducted with 4,865 cat and dog owners and 40 police forces, sought to catalogue in detail the full extent of pet theft across Great Britain. According to official police data, from January 1 to October 31 this year 911 cats and dogs were reported stolen in the UK – that’s the equivalent of three pets every single day.
Of the cats and dogs topping burglars’ most-wanted lists, it’s perhaps not a surprise that expensive pedigree breeds come top – the most stolen dog breed in Britain was the Staffordshire bull terrier and the most stolen cat breed was the Siamese.
John Ellenger, of MORE TH>N Pet Insurance, commented:“We want to raise awareness of the issue of pet crime, encourage owners to be as vigilant as possible and provide a helping hand to reduce the chances of pet owners becoming the victims of theft. Hopefully, with more people aware of the issue we’ll see crime levels drop in 2014.”
