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Stolen Dogs and Scared Breeders

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Another Ontario breeder has had dogs stolen by vistors who pretended to be potential puppy buyers. This isn’t the first time this has happened – years back, a Bulldog breeder in California lost almost every dog in their house to people who had come to ‘meet the dogs’ a few days before, and the infamous home invading Yorkie thieves gained access to the house by posing as potential purchasers. An American Eskimo breeder in Northern Ontario had a litter of puppies stolen from right out of her kitchen, and we ourselves had a puppy stolen from inside of our house – while I was at home alone with my children.

This rise in dogs stolen from right inside our homes has left a lot of breeders feeling paranoid – and a lot of puppy buyers feeling confused.

For years, we’ve told potential buyers that visiting the home of the breeder they are considering purchasing a puppy from is a great way to choose a quality breeder – and it is.  Unfortunately,  it’s also less and less common to find breeders willing to let possible buyers drop over for just a ‘meet the dogs’ visit.

Can you blame us? After all, we don’t know you – and we don’t know if your intent is to sincerely meet us and our dogs, or if you have something more nefarious in mind. Are you ‘casing’ us, trying to find out where the dogs live and what access points there might be? Are you checking to see if our doors are secure, and if there’s a gun safe sitting in our family room? As breeders, we just don’t know – and we’re all of us more and more paranoid about the possibility that your innocuous visit can turn into a house emptied of its pets.

As puppy buyers, however, it’s not unusual to want to meet the possible parents of your future puppy, in advance of picking that puppy up. As breeders, it’s also common for us to want to meet you, as well. An initial impression can go a long way to convincing us that you are the right family for one of our precious kids.

What kind of compromise can we all make, to create an atmosphere where both sets of parties get what they need?

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Shelter Arrogance – BCSPCA Refuses to Return Dog to Owner

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In June of this year, a purebred show dog went missing. Her handler instantly initiated a search campaign for the dog, notifying local animal control and the SPCA, and providing them with specific identifying details of the dog, including her microchip information.

While the agent was still searching, Animal Control found the dog. A scan revealed her microchip, which was registered in the name of her US breeder and owner. The owner was notified that AC had possession of the dog.

Recent border changes require the breeder to have a passport to be able to travel into Canada from the USA. Without one, the breeder had to cancel her plans to fly north to claim the dog back personally. Instead, she appointed an agent and notified Animal Control that the dog would be claimed by this person. Animal Control apparently agreed to this.

Unfortunately, AC didn’t follow through. Instead, they handed the dog over to the BCSPCA shelter. BPSPCA refuses to relinquish the dog to the appointed agent, and states emphatically that no dog leaves their shelter without being altered. They state that the dog will be spayed, and then re homed.

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