And tagging along at the heel of the economic bubble are new opportunities for crime – with one survey putting dog theft up by a fifth over lockdown. Pet detective Colin Butcher with a missing poster for stolen dogs Reggie and Ruby. Dog theft is a lucrative business. Photograph: Peter Flude/The GuardianUnder the law, there is no specific crime of pet theft; stolen dogs are treated just like other stolen property. The reason for making pet theft a specific crime is so it gets its own folder.”A specific pet theft crime would enable the courts to give out proper sentencing, says Matthews, to act as a deterrent.

Source: The Guardian May 15, 2021 06:56 UTC