A WORRYING trend of 'dognapping' has emerged in Cumbria - with pets and working dogs stolen for monetary gain.

Nationally between ten and 20 dogs a week are believed to be taken by organised criminals before being held to ransom for cash.

In some cases, the animals are kept until the owner appeals for their return in exchange for a reward - with the thief then calling to claim they have found the dog.

In other cases, the criminal calls the owner and states they have purchased the pet legitimately without realising it has been stolen. They then agree to return the dog to the owner in exchange for the alleged purchase price.

In Cumbria, one distraught owner was reported to have handed over hundreds of pounds to 'buy back' her beloved pet from a man in a car park.

The incident was not reported to the police for fear the animal would be stolen for a second time.

Jayne Hayes, founder of the online, volunteer-run database DogsLost, said this type of crime was growing across the country.

"This isn't unusual unfortunately.

"We are seeing between ten and 20 cases a week.

"It's a difficult situation, the owner just wants their dog back and the thieves know this.

"If they get away with it once, they're going to do it again. It's an easy way to get money."

DogsLost has helped reunite around 80,000 dogs with their owners thanks to online posters and social media sharing.

Ms Hayes offered this advice to anyone whose dog is believed to have been stolen.

"Get out there with posters and get it online in that first 24 hours.

"Make sure as many people know about your dog as possible so it becomes too hot to handle.

"We know people will report their family and friends if they think they've got a stolen dog.

"But if you don't get the dog back quickly, keep going. Nothing disappears into thin air. We've known stolen dogs come back five or six years later."

In Cumbria, a number of kennel owners reported levels of security within their businesses were extremely tight - with high tech surveillance and alarms installed.

However, professional kennels were not thought to be a target for dog thieves, they added, because of the multiple layers of (security)

A spokesman for Cumbria police said dog theft was a crime that was taken extremely seriously.

"In Cumbria, there is no evidence of organised crime groups targeting particular breeds," they added.

"In the last 3 years, we have investigated 45 crimes involving theft of dogs, across a range of 26 different breeds.

"The majority of the thefts take place in gardens or yards of the owners’ premises."

New advice issued by the force is for owners to contact them immediately if someone gets in touch claiming to have their stolen pet.

The spokesman added: "Always contact the police as soon as you are aware that your dog has been taken, call police on 101 or 999 in an emergency, and keep us informed of any contact made by people claiming to have your dog.

"If a person has brought your dog, and you can prove it is your dog, then they have purchased stolen property, which is an offence.

"You should never be asked to hand over money to have your dog returned.

"If someone is asking you to pay to get your dog back, we would advise you not to meet with them.

"If you have reported your dog as having been stolen, keep police informed of any contact that is made with you regarding your dog, so investigations can be carried out and offenders can be brought to justice.”


Sheepdog stolen for the second time

Tri-coloured working sheepdog Sprite was returned to her home near Brampton in September last year.

She had been taken from the farm where she lived by a thief four months earlier.

Distressingly, her owners discovered thieves had broken into her locked kennel again on December 4 - taking collie Sprite, aged four, and eight-year-old Welsh collie Meg.

Owner Jane Eden said she was losing hope of seeing her dogs returned this time.

"We are suspicious. We think whoever took Sprite and Meg must have known the dogs, because one was very timid and would only go to someone she knew.

"We paid a reward when Sprite was returned after she was stolen the first time.

"There's a lot of value in working dogs which is why they are often targeted.

"Buying a trained sheepdog in its prime will cost £3,000, £4,000, £5,000.

"We are an organic farm, we cannot do without dogs, so it has cost us a lot of money in addition to the upset of having Sprite and Meg stolen."

Security at the farm has now been strengthened, and lost posters showing photos of Sprite and Meg have been shared on social media thousands of times.

They are also registered as stolen with the police and a range of organisations linked to sheepdogs and farming.

Mrs Eden added: "We don't have much hope of seeing them again this time.

"With working dogs they are more likely to be sold to someone who is going to work sheep - even if they know the dog is stolen.

"With pet dogs, they can be stolen for bait which is really distressing for the owners."


'It's been the most traumatic experience of my life' - devastated owner speaks after pet dogs were stolen

CUMBRIA mum of one Shelley-Anne Keenan has spoken of her devastation after finding out her beloved pet dog had been sold on a website after being stolen last year.

Thieves took 18-month-old black Cockapoo Sassa from the family's garden in Anthorn in August along with their rescue Patterdale cross Jack Russell terrier Layla.

The crime was reported to Cumbria police and the online database LostDogs while Mrs Keenan quickly set about distributing posters offering a reward for their return.

She also launched a social media campaign with the help of LostDogs in a bid to share photos of Sassa and Layla as widely as possible.

But Volunteers for the pet search website Lost Dogs then sent a copy of a second advert - expired just six days earlier - posted by a seller in Cumbria who was offering Sassa for just £250.

The contact details had been removed and Sassa's litter of puppies had also already been sold on.

"All I can do now is hope that she has gone to a family home and is not being kept in a cage somewhere for breeding purposes," Mrs Keenan added.

"This has been the most traumatic thing that has ever happened to me.

"My little girl has been calling for Sassa and Layla. She doesn't understand where they've gone. The upset is unbelievable."

Cockerpoo puppies - a cross between a poodle and a cocker spaniel, are regularly sold for in excess of £800.

Sassa's puppies were sold for just £650 while the £250 price tag attached to Sassa herself was low for an 18-month-old dog.

Mrs Keenan believes this was so that a new owner would not ask too many questions about her background - or for paperwork such as an up to date vaccination certificate to be passed on.

Sassa had been microchipped, a simple procedure in which a small device is inserted under a dog's skin registered to their owner, while Layla, who had been rescued by the family just weeks earlier, had yet had the procedure.

Mrs Keenan hopes this will lead to her being returned at some point in the future.

"I don't think we'll get Layla back. We'd like to think that at some point a vet might scan Sassa though and we might get her back in two or three years.

"I just want my dogs back."