Stranger asked partially-sighted woman if he could pet her service dog — seconds later, the sound of a leash made her heart drop
Dog theft has been steadily on the rise since the post-pandemic period, largely due to the fact that the demand for pets has skyrocketed and their market value has significantly increased. However, one particularly disturbing case from February 2021 involved a man who tried to steal a guide dog from its visually impaired owner when it was off-leash, at a secluded spot near Basingstoke.
According to the BBC, partially-sighted Maisy McAdams has always relied on six-year-old Willow since 2016. When the dog owner and the black Labrador-Golden Retriever cross were taking a stroll, a man approached to pet her dog. However, as the man was stroking the pup, she heard a click and began suspecting that the man was pulling out a lead from his pocket.
The 23-year-old university student luckily managed to grab the dog's collar just in time. Having sensed a "weird feeling" about the stranger, she said, "The man was crouching next to Willow when I heard a click." She added, "He had pulled out a lead, which I think he guessed I couldn't see as I was carrying a long white cane." McAdams immediately asked the man what he was doing. She noticed that he became startled and jumped up. Fortunately, McAdams and her guide dog were unharmed and left safely. However, the experience left her nervous about going out alone, and she said she would now accompany her partner if needed.
Maisy's experience and her quick thinking remind us of a dog owner's similar ordeal after she grew suspicious of a man repeatedly approaching her during walks with her service Poodle, Phoebe. To take a proactive measure against a potential thief, the owner made her dog more identifiable and less appealing to thieves by applying a pet-safe dye to her chest and paws. While she expressed some regret over altering Phoebe's natural look with the dye, she firmly believed that this small change would make her easily recognizable if stolen. Additionally, the owner also trained her other dog, Luna, to act as a distraction by responding to a "speak" command when someone approached too closely.
In a study authored by Dr. Helen Selby-Fell and Dr. Daniel Allen, the Pet Theft Taskforce Report explored the rise in dog thefts during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dog thefts in 33 police forces in England and Wales increased from 1,452 in 2019 to 1,504 in 2020, a 3.5% rise, despite an overall 26% decrease in total theft offences during the same period. The authors explain that this increase is due to factors such as higher demand for pets during lockdowns, the rising market value of certain dog breeds, and greater opportunities for theft as dogs were often left unattended in gardens while owners were home.