Gangs of dognappers have taken to exploiting Mexicans’ growing love for their pets.
Monica Pineda, the vice president of People for the Defense of Animals (GPDA), outlines three main methods that dognappers operate.
“The simplest way is extortion. They call you on the phone saying they’ve found the missing dog that you announced with flyers on the streets. They make you believe that they have the dog and ask for money.”
In the two other methods, dognappers really have the dog. Sometimes they snatch the pet from their owners “at gunpoint,” Pineda says. Other times, they wait for owners to go to the park and let their dogs off their leash. “The thieves steal the dog when they are not paying attention.”
While there are no official statistics on dog theft in Mexico, animal care organizations in the United States report a quadrupling of cases since 2010. Ransoms for breed dogs can hit as much as seven times the market value for such pets.
Police busy investigating missing person cases, often cannot prioritize dognappers. “They said it was absurd that I was trying to report the theft of a dog,” one victim told the Los Angeles Times.