Inline with many recent news media stories about pet dogs being the new currency for criminals because they’ve become so valuable due to pressures on the marketplace brought about by coronavirus lockdowns, police have seized 83 allegedly stolen dogs on a travellers’ site in Suffolk, UK.
The 83 dogs were seized and six people arrested during a 10 hour police search of the West Meadows sites on the outskirts of Ipswich on Saturday last. Stolen dogs of various breeds were recovered by the police. Three women and three men in the age range 34 to 46 were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to steal. The task now is to identify the owners of these dogs and reunite them.
In addition to the charges for conspiracy to steal, four people were fined for breaches of the Covid regulations (I believe under the Covid Act).
Since the first lockdown about 12 months ago dog theft has become a particular problem according to detective chief superintendent Eamonn Bridger. He said:
“We recognised that these crimes have a significant impact on the families affected and we will continue to disrupt criminals wherever we have information that we can act upon. I know many victims of these crimes will be anxious to know whether or not we have recovered their pet.”
They’re doing their best and working as fast as possible to identify the dogs and reunite them with their owners. It appears that the travellers’ site is to be dispersed in order to minimise the likelihood of further criminal behaviour.
Source: The Times.
