Petition Introduce legislation to reduce the incidence of dog theft

Dog theft is common. All kinds of dogs are stolen from owners and when the owners go to the police they are told ‘There is nothing we can do, it’s just a dog’ We are all aware that the police are under pressure with budget cuts, but we need to make sure that they are willing and able to prioritize a stolen dog over a stolen bike or phone.
At present stealing a dog is the perfect crime, the police won’t pursue them and if they get caught, the penalty is minimal, yet there is a massive reward either in selling the dog, claiming reward money or using the dog as bait for dog fighting .
We, as tax payers, have the right to protection from thieves as do our dogs. We would respectfully request that the police be given a remit to give higher priority to stolen dogs and that when dog thieves are caught, they face higher penalties in court, fines set to reflect the theft and even lengthy jail sentences when it is appropriate.