Detroit-area pet theft on the rise this holiday season

According to the Discovery Channel, approximately two million pets are stolen each year, and only about ten percent of them ever return home.

In the metro-Detroit area, stolen dogs have become almost epidemic. For example, on Tuesday December 8 a six-month-old puppy was stolen in a well lit drug store parking lot when a thief smashed a car window. Detroit resident Valarie Weems ran into the store to make a single purchase and when she returned to her locked car, the Yorkie mix was gone. The day before, a two-month-old female Shih Tzu/Maltese puppy was stolen from the Novi Petland in broad daylight!

What you can do to protect your pet:

• Keep your pet indoors, especially when you are not at home. Don’t leave pet alone in your yard.
• Remember that indoor cats live longer, safer lives.
• Properly identify your pet with a collar and tag, and microchip.
• Enroll your pet’s microchip, photo, and contact info with a national recovery service.
• Maintain up-to-date licenses on your pets.
• Keep recent photos and written descriptions of your companion animals on hand at all times.
• Spay and neuter your pets. Fixed animals are less likely to stray from home.
• Be aware of strangers in the neighborhood. Report anything unusual such as suspicious neighborhood activities or missing pets to the police and animal control.
• Keep your pet on a leash whenever you go outside.
• Do not tie your pet outside a store to wait for you.
• Never leave an animal unattended in a car.

If you have any information on either of these stolen pets, or to protect yourself today, please call 866-699-FIND (3463).

Contributed by Jessica Staton.