‘Our English bulldog was stolen in the park, we’re not the only ones’
The owner of an English bulldog which was stolen from their local park has said police need to do more to tackle a surge in dog thefts.
English and French bulldogs were the most stolen breeds in the UK last year as experts warn thieves can sell them for ÂŁ3,000 on the black market.
In 2023 there were a total of 2,290 dog thefts reported to police forces across the country, marking a 6 per cent increase on the previous yearâs figures.
Among the English bulldogs stolen last year was five-year-old Benny, the âlovely family dogâ that owner Emmalene Chisholm was gifted by her family as a support pet after she broke her back in a car crash five years ago.
Benny was bought as an eight-week-old puppy for ÂŁ2,500 by Ms Chisholmâs family but on 2 July, 2023, Benny wandered out of the garden of her home in Cromer, Norfolk, to a park next door, where he was frequently walked off-lead twice a day.
Ms Chisholm, 43, said witnesses saw another family wandering off with Benny before she and her husband realised he was gone.
When their searches came up empty-handed they contacted the police, who she claimed were ânot interestedâ until the story eventually reached their local newspaper days later.
âIt was just really frustrating as itâs very clear that dog thefts are connected to organised crime and itâs basically the tip of the iceberg for a lot of stuff, but again police arenât really interested,â Ms Chisholm told i.
She added: âA gentleman called me who had been on the park with his family at the same time as Benny to say they were with Benny, gave him water and then looked to see if they could see where heâd come from.
â[The man] was on holiday himself but had to leave, so left Benny with another family â a male and female, two teenage sons and a daughter â who said theyâd look for the owner.
The most stolen dog breeds in the UK
- English bulldog (25 thefts in 2022; 50 thefts in 2023)
- French bulldog (59 thefts in 2022; 37 thefts in 2023)
- XL Bully (0 thefts in 2022; 37 thefts in 2023)
- Staffordshire bull terrier (71 thefts in 2022; 34 thefts in 2023)
- American bulldog (90 thefts in 2022; 19 thefts in 2023)
- Dachshund (11 thefts in 2022; 16 thefts in 2023)
- Shih tzu (11 thefts in 2022; 15 thefts in 2023)
- German shepherd (23 thefts in 2022; 15 thefts in 2023)
- Labrador (10 thefts in 2022; 15 thefts in 2023)
- Chihuahua (40 thefts in 2022; 14 thefts in 2023)
- Direct Line analysis of dog thefts reported to police
âThey were then seen taking [Benny] off the parkâ.
But despite âamazingâ support from locals and people further afield who heard of the situation through lost dog database DogLost, local pet charities, bulldog rehoming groups, the Facebook page Ms Chisholm set up and even an appearance on Channel 5âs Live: Lost Dogs with Clare Balding, Benny remains missing over eight months later.
Ms Chisolm said: âWeâre aware that around the time Benny was stolen other dogs in the area were stolen as well and I know that theyâve not all been successful.
âMy hope is that Benny will just be taken into a vet one day and scanned, because he is microchippedâ.
French bulldogs are often sold for around the same price as English bulldogs, while XL Bullies â which went from not featuring on the list of most stolen breeds in 2022 to third on the list last year â may be sold illegally for much more despite the bans on the breed.
Leigh-Catherine Salway, a spokesperson for campaign group Save Our Bullies, told i that she expects the bans, which came into full effect earlier this year in England and Wales, will only cause XL Bully thefts to increase further.
âWe are expecting thefts to go up because the ban will make them more attractive to the wrong types of people,â she said.
âThese people scour social media and there are so many groups, forums and threads on social media â for example XL Bully owners looking for where to get their dogs spayed â and if [thieves] know thereâs a bitch that hasnât been spayed or a dog they can stud, because itâll make it more attractive, theyâre going to go and steal the dogsâ.
It comes after eight XL Bullies were seized in police raids on county lines drug gangs in the week ending 10 March.
Detective Superintendent Dan Mitchell, head of the county lines co-ordination centre, said the breed has become a âstatus symbol for drugs gangsâ and that the dogs were used to âintimidate and create fearâ, comparing them to imitation firearms.
Mr Mitchell added: âAn imitation firearm isnât a real gun, but it appears as if it is and it causes fear and harm, and it can be used to intimidate.
âI think thatâs probably whatâs happening here â the XL Bully is acting in a similar way, because of all the media around it, now itâs been labelled as a dangerous dog and has been banned.â
Ms Stalway told i that she has heard of multiple instances of XL Bullies being taken from their owners by force by criminal gangs, dating back to at least 2022.
She alleged that one incident in October 2022 saw Victoria Barnard, a West Midlands woman, robbed of two of her three dogs by her ex-partner and an accomplice, both of whom were wielding crowbars. The dogs were returned to Ms Barnard âpurely by chanceâ a month later, Ms Stalway said, when police responding to a domestic violence call found them in a house and scanned their microchips.
In another incident, allegedly in London, Ms Stalway said XL Bully owners, who did not want to be named due to them being âterrifiedâ by the ordeal, were âheld at gunpointâ and told to hand their dogs over with âshotguns in their facesâ.
âI think they do know who took the dogs but theyâre terrified, theyâre not going to say anything,â she explained.
Ms Stalway added: âItâs quite frightening the lengths people will go to to steal XL Bullies.
âI say to everyone to be vigilant and have your dogs chipped, but still Iâve heard of other stories from people with other breeds of dogs that have been found by police or taken to vets after being stolen and theyâve had their chips cut out of their necks.
âOne dog I know of got an infection from it and died.â
Madeline Pike, a veterinary nurse for Direct Line, said: âIt is saddening to see the increase in dog theft this year, [and] these statistics donât show the heartbreak and anxiety faced by owners across the country who have lost a loved one.
âFor pet owners it can feel like a member of the family has been ripped away if their dog is stolen. We continue to see year on year the same breeds being targeted for thieves, so owners of these animals should be especially vigilant.â
Direct Lineâs analysis also showed that nearly three quarters of dog theft victims last year did not see their pets returned â the highest level since it started tracking the data in 2015. That marked a 36 per cent drop in the number of dogs successfully returned to their owners.
In January, the Government backed proposals to make the theft of cats and dogs a specific criminal offence â âpet abductionâ â in England and Northern Ireland that could lead to fines, up to five years in prison, or both.
Campaigners welcomed the move, but said âmore needs to be doneâ.
Beverley Cuddy, a patron of Stolen and Missing Pets Alliance and founder of dog homing website Bark Angel, previously said: âThe Theft Act still treats this crime as no more significant than the theft of a mobile phone â so all our pets are at risk of abduction.
âWe can make it harder for impulsive criminals by never leaving our dogs tied up outside shops and protecting them when at home. Statistics show most are stolen from our own gardens.
âThe Pet Abduction Bill will hopefully punish dog thefts more severely, but more needs to be done to change the way dogs are treated as mere commodities by the law.â
Environment Secretary Steve Barclay said the âvitalâ Pet Abduction Bill will ârecognise the severity of this shocking crime and should act as a deterrent to anyone considering stealing a dog or cat, pledging to âdo all we can to support its swift passage through Parliamentâ.
Conservative MP Anna Firth, who sponsored the bill, said: âI am absolutely delighted that the Pet Abduction Bill has passed its second reading, and will move on to committee stage.
âAs a nation of pet lovers, it is vital that the law recognises the emotional impact that the abduction of a pet can have, and brings the perpetrators to justice that correctly reflects this.
âPets are not merely property like a smartphone or watch â they are part of the family. It is not right that the law does not distinguish this and I am delighted that my bill will redress this wrong.â