Stolen Australian guard dogs fetching $25000 or more in Asia

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GANGS PREY ON PRIZED PETS

 

http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,11593991

%255E28101,00.html

 

Gangs prey on prized pets

By Paul Weston

December 5, 2004

 

THOUSANDS of dogs are being stolen from back yards every

year in a Queensland dog-napping trade described as a " hidden

epidemic " .

 

Criminals, some in organised gangs, then use the dogs for

breeding, fighting and hunting.

 

Some are sold locally and overseas for up to $25,000.

 

In many instances, tranquillisers are used to sedate the dogs,

mostly pedigree breeds.

 

Some thieves have been so determined to get to their prey that

they have tunnelled under kennel fences.

 

A Sunday Mail investigation into the dog trade has found:

 

.. Sought-after dogs such as english setters are being snatched

for breeding. With forged papers, they can command more than

$2000 and become show dogs.

 

.. Trained guard dogs such as german shepherds are being sent

to Asia where they can command more than $25,000.

 

.. Pit bulls and mastiffs are being stolen for illegal dog fights

or to hunt feral pigs on northwest Queensland properties.

 

The RSPCA acknowledges a trade in stolen dogs exists and

says it's impossible to know how many dogs had disappeared

in sinister circumstances.

 

Spokesman Michael Beatty said the animal welfare organisation

was on target to receive a record 10,000 phone calls this year

from distraught Queenslanders whose dogs are missing.

 

" Undoubtedly many of those would be stolen, " he said.

 

Leading trainer Scott Donald said thousands of dogs were

stolen each year.

 

Mr Donald, who runs a guard-dog training school on the Gold

Coast, said up to 50 dogs a year were being stolen from him

and his clients.

 

" If you've got four dogs that are trained, and someone takes them

down to Sydney, there's a quick $2000, " said Mr Donald, who

has hired security staff to watch over his dogs.

 

Mr Donald said police were investigating the theft of a valuable

trained german shepherd from his Brisbane property about 18

months ago. " This dog was worth $25,000. I put him out in the

yard, which was secured, to give him a run, " he said.

 

" These people dug a 1m-deep hole under the wire fence. "

 

Mr Donald said dog-stealing was highly organised, with

criminals obtaining sedatives from veterinarians which they fed

to guard dogs in compounds.

 

The trade stretches to the state's west, where animal control

officer Reg Sollitt said an increasing number of animals had

disappeared in the past three months, probably for pig-hunting.

 

" It's mainly the pig dogs - bull terriers and bull mastiff cross

- and they use them for hunting pigs, " Mr Sollitt said.

 

" You see 30 dogs go through on a truck. You wouldn't know if

they owned them or not. "

 

Primary Industries Minister Henry Palaszczuk said dog thieves

could be charged with theft or cruelty.

 

The penalty for cruelty could be a $75,000 fine or two years in jail.

The Sunday Mail (Qld)