According to police data, instances of dognapping increased by almost 20% in the six months preceding October 2021. In September 2021, a law was passed which recognises pet theft as a separate crime to other forms of property theft. A study by K9 Patrol has revealed the most dangerous places to be a dog owner in the UK.
K9’s study analysed local search data for terms frequently searched by victims of pet abduction over the last six months.
Northamptonshire ranked top, with residents searching the terms “report dog theft”, “dog stolen” and “report a stolen dog” more frequently than any other county in the UK.
Top 20 dog theft hotspots
|
Position |
County |
|
1 |
Northamptonshire |
|
2 |
Somerset |
|
3 |
Gloucestershire |
|
4 |
Devon |
|
5 |
Derbyshire |
|
6 |
East Riding of Yorkshire |
|
7 |
East Sussex |
|
8 |
Herefordshire |
|
9 |
Cambridgeshire |
|
10 |
Bedfordshire |
|
11 |
Berkshire |
|
12 |
Bristol City |
|
13 |
Lincolnshire |
|
14 |
Greater Manchester |
|
15 |
Cornwall |
|
16 |
Warwickshire |
|
17 |
Worcestershire |
|
18 |
Leicestershire |
|
19 |
Greater London |
|
20 |
Shropshire |
Methodology
Their method analysed the number of impressions each search term had in each location. It then calculated the percentage of residents this accounted for, by using the most recent population data for each area. This data is not based on crime reports, but on search terms specifically related to topics discussed by the victims of dog theft.