I belong to a Facebook group for lost and found dogs in our area, and it is shocking how many owners are reporting that their dog was stolen right out of a fenced yard.
It used to be that the only kind of dog that was likely to be stolen was a valuable pedigreed dog; but now, almost any kind of dog can be stolen and is often used in training the fighting pit bulls.
Small dogs, puppies, and even cats are put out as bait for the pitbull to chase down and kill until they get the idea that this is what they should do to any other animal that they come across.
Not only are the stolen dogs used as bait; but often purebred pitbulls are stolen to be used for breeding more fighting dogs. Either way, many people are now losing their beloved petss because they are being stolen.
Another way that the dog-fighters get dogs is to look in the sale/free ads and take dog that arebeing given away free. Often these people will have a woman, especially one with children, who is the person claiming to want to "adopt a puppy for her kids to play with", and once they get the free dog, it goes to the dog-fighters to be used as bait dogs.
About the only way to prevent this , is to be sure that your dog is inside the house and safe at night, and when you are gone. If you have to re-home a pet, be sure to charge a re-homing fee, and also check vet references from the people before giving your dog or cat away to someone.
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