Dog thieves

[pegleg]

"Not hound related" mid january i was checking cows. My calving season. I have a few stock dogs and a couple hounds that will trail cattle on command. But i only have one older dog that you can rely on to go find hidden calves with out tormenting them or the mother. Anyway we found a couple new calves easy enough and tagged/ medicated them. But one was missing so i sent jack one way and started the other. After a while i found the calf. Jack never turned up. Now if he fonds a new calf he just hangs out near bye until you show up. So its not unusual for him to find calves that have already been tagged. So i called on the way back . but he still wasnt back when i reached the truck so i dug out the garmin and got him stationary further down so loaded the horse and drove to him. But it was only his collar. Now we all know they dont come off. But on the off chance i looked everywhere. For a weeks. But this dogs 14 years old and smart never been lost in his life. So i pretty much had to resign myself to him being gone and the only hope he got away and came home.
Today my wife stumbled across his picture on facebook . a animal welfare group has him and have had difficulty placing him and his energy. This place is 137 miles away as the crow flies. They have him listed as four years of age lab mix. And stated he learns quickly but is untrained and must be leashed at all times.
I called them up they deny he had any collars and wont say who brought him in. Want me to pay for his care/medical and microchipping. Good chance they have neutered him. Now im happy hes alive. My oldest daughter was really worked up over his loss. But on the other hand i now have to fight over getting my dog back that was stolen and it pisses me off. And its not the first time something like this has happened. Its always some Subaru driving jackass hiker/ bird watcher .

[kickemall]

I'd try to explain to them that he was stolen and your not responsible for the medical bills or care. I would probably donate something to them if they are decent about returning him. Thats to bad, what a pain in the ass. Side note - a dog like him isn't easy to come by.

[Bneill]

Pegleg, sorry to hear that. Last July I had a walker male disappear from the front of a bear race that got close to the highway. Just vanished. GPS last had him by the highway. I looked all summer and had ads out everywhere. Had my name tag and phone numbers on him too. My thoughts were that the same thing happened with him as your dog. Such a maddening thing. Hope you get yours back without to much trouble.

[bearsnva]

Pegleg,
Just an option to think about but if I were you I would talk with the Commonwealth Attorney in your area on how best to handle this. (I assume you have a CA in your area) If you can get some person with some influence to give you some guidance or possibly have them talk with a person in the area where your dog is you are a step ahead. In Va there is a law against removing collars and it says a shelter can not neuter a dog for so many days. If you can tell the people that are holding your dog you have talked with the authorities about what happened and how it happened that could easily take some of their bluster away. Most of those people think they are invincible until they are looking at someone with real power. Sorry this happened at all and hope it all turns out for the best for you and your kids and your dog.

[Goose]

Had something very similar happen here a few times, first time I had a new female climb out of my pen, I chalked it up to she would turn up at a neighbors house in the next day or so, a few weeks later I was on my Facebook and a guy I was friends with two hours away posted a picture that someone had shared and he seen it so he shared it, I'll be damn if it wasn't my dog, I immediately contacted him and he put me in touch with the person that had her, this person just so happen to be at her boyfriends that weekend which was just down the rd from my father in law, I'll called her up and described my dog to her and even identified the tattoo she had in her ear that the woman didn't even know about and she was like " how do I know this is really your dog", I explained that I had her mother and littermates at my house and that if she didn't believe me I would have the local sheriffs dept come along with me to get my dog and I would have DNA test done and then I'd turn around and sue her for the cost of the testing and not to mention the pain and suffering I've endured since she had been gone ( just to juice it up a little), she got quiet on the phone and I told her the ball was in her court, this could be easy or costly but no matter what I was on my way over to her house with the local constable to at least have all this documented and on file so that way when I get my dog back I have a court case, she give me my dog back with no problem and said she was only trying to help, she explained to me where she picked the dog up and it was right behind my house, I thanked her for being a concerned citizen but she didn't have any business riding around out in the country picking up dogs thinking she was "saving" them, I told her that anyone with any type of sense would have seen that this dog was very well taken care of and just because she didn't have a collar on didn't mean she was running loose and neglected...


Second instance some young boys were hunting one of my gyps and lost signal with her going down the interstate at a high rate of speed, they came to my house all besides themselves saying they was going to do this and that to whom ever stole the dog if they ever found out, I said it didn't seem to me anybody stole the dog because if someone did still it they would've known what those collars were and would've chunked them immediately, I told them it sounded like some fur mom "rescued" her and to stay where they had cell phone signal, they had a name plates on the collar, sure enough by the time they got home a mom and pop rescue shelter had called and said they had her and hauled the dog dang near an hour down the interstate to another town...

[david]

Boy, you sure can understand why some of those government hunters used to breed/train their dogs for stranger anxiety/shyness. They would hide at the sound of a vehicle unless they recognized the sound of their own truck. No stranger would ever catch them.

Sorry to hear it Pegleg.

[Goose]

[Phillipsj]

I had a English gyp get stolen on gov. land last year after quitting a bear race because she got into a yellow jacket nest. Looked for her for eight hours and finally spoke to gentleman setting up a horse camp who said he saw two guys just pick up off the road where I cut her at. she was one of those types that would go up to anyone, I now have one full hound left and after him that's the last full hound I'll own, too much time effort and money to have someone just pick up and drive off with all your hard work.

[scrubrunner]

Pegleg, I would consult with a attorney. I think it would take a lot of starch out of them if they get a call from the attorney.
My buddy's dog was stolen by a woman, he found her with the dog, called the sheriff office, woman told deputy it was her dog, buddy told deputy it was his dog. Deputy said was nothing he could do about it. She had possession of the dog and said it was hers. He fought this for over a year with the sheriff dept. and with local D.A. But never did get his dog back. My advice if you find yourself in similar situation, call sheriff, BUT TAKE POSSESSION OF THE DOG before sheriff gets there!
When I moved to my present residence 38 years ago I built my dog pen away from the house in a palmetto thicket, the only person dogs raised there hardly ever saw was me. Every dog I raised there would not let anyone but me get close to them much less catch them. It was agrivating at times but none of those dogs ever came up missing. These were all Walker foxhounds, I don't know if would be the same with all hound breeds. I was deer hunting with them with a hunting party, got tired of being only one could catch them so I moved pen so dogs could see normal activity around the place, that put an end to my one man dogs.
Pegleg, please let us know how it turns out. We can all learn from it, we all need to know how to handle these situations as far as what to do and what not to do.

[macedonia mule man]

When you are dealing with a person that will steal a dog, he or she is usually lacking in brain power. Some people will do away with your dog because of previous experience with loosing chicken or calves to dogs coming on their place, which I can kinda understand. I have hunted with dog since I was 13 and have lost several but only one that I’m 99% sure was stolen. A young woman I’m pretty sure took it for the tracking collar. Talked to sherif dept and he point blank told me to forget it, they have some people in that area that will steal anything if they can turn a dollar with it. He told me he would pursue it if I wanted and probably find it but it would coast me more in the long run. Some times you have to know when to hold them and then know when to fold them. I hated to lose the young dog that was doing good and a 300 collar, but camp is not burned and nobody shot through my truck winder yet. Listen to the local law, they usually know what and who you are dealing with when you start telling them the story. Get another dog and try to forget it.

[TomJr]

I had a dog taken a few years back(I was about a mile away and saw the SUV picking him up, they tossed the collars). The guy posted on craigs list. I called him and he wanted a finders fee... so I did a little poking around on my own and got his Facebook page and then saw he had a record. I turned in the info I had to the local sheriff and they were able to get his address. Because I had the dog chipped they went to his house and had me park down the street out of sight... the chip checked out and the sheriff deputy brought the dog to my truck, never did see the guy. His story was the dog was running around without a collar and his daughter had rescued it...

Chips are very cheap and can help in cases like this, $20 at many feed stores (vaccination days) or you can buy them yourself much cheaper but then have get them registered yourself.

IF you have pictures of the dog take them along and go to the welfare group with a deputy and see if they will turn your dog over. After all they have having trouble placing him... maybe they will be reasonable.

[scrubrunner]

Pegleg, how'd it work out?

[pegleg]

It wasnt as easy as it should have been but jack came home with me. Havent heard anymore about it so maybe its over.

[TomJr]

Happy you got him back!

[scrubrunner]

I got a stolen dog story a man I used to work with told me. He had a farm in the woods surrounded mostly by paper company property, said he raised 2 beautiful bluetick puppies that he let run loose around the place. Said they got where they were trailing good and running the fool out of deer and fox. One day the female came up missing, he looked everywhere, talked to all the neighbors. One man told him, well you know a honest will steal a dog or a hog. That man soon moved to down around Bushnell about 100 miles away.
After never finding any sign of the dog he figured it must have got snake bit, gator caught or something.
My friend said 2 years later a stranger knocked on his door with a beautiful little bluetick puppy in his arms. The stranger said a man down in Bushnell that knew he was passing through here ask him to drop this pup off at his house. My friend said, That sob stole my dog!