You might have heard of “House flipping”; learn about “Pet flipping” here. In the former case, people will fix a broken home and sell it for monetary gains. However, in the latter case, shady people steal fur babies from unsuspecting households and sell them on the internet.
Pet flipping or dognapping can happen in two ways. One way is to silently steal dogs from a home or yard and then sell them on the internet. The other way is the stealer contacts people who post “Found a dog” web ads/flyers, claim the puppies as their own, and then sell them for huge profits.
Dog owners might support their fur companions with basic life needs, including health care through pet health insurance, but the responsibility doesn’t seem to end there. Pet insurance for dogs helps manage unanticipated health scenarios and emergencies effectively, but it is not sufficient to guard the fur babies physically.
Puppy owners should take specific security measures to keep their furry little ones safe and sound within the boundaries of the home, as animal flipping cases have been on the rise. One reason for people engaging in pet theft is the massive source of income it promises.
It could be an organized crime because pet stealers generally know their marks, cherry-pick targets, and strategically execute their plans. They may change the identity of fur babies after stealing and selling them to innocent families or animal breeders.
Pit Bulls, Labrador Retrievers, Chihuahuas, Pomeranians, Golden Retrievers, and French Bulldogs are some dog breeds highly susceptible to theft activities. The most obvious question at this point is – “How to safeguard pet dogs from these flippers?”
Puppy parents must keep their four-legged companion on a leash and should never leave it alone outside, whether in the garden, yard, parked car, or tied up outside a store. Also, owners shouldn’t give details about their pets to strangers who show particular interest in them while venturing outdoors.
Spaying/neutering the puppies ensures they won’t be misused for breeding purposes. Microchipping the pet dogs helps with tracking them down when dognapping incidents occur, but only if the dog is found by someone else then taken to the vet for a chip check. Further, if the chip has been removed, degraded, deactivated, or assimilated, there is the big problem of how to identify the true owner. Puppy parents must remember that pet flippers are heartless criminals out there for their gain. They can demand huge ransoms from the owners or consider reselling the pets for fat money. There are only a few ways to tell what happens to a pet after it is sold. One avenue experienced by thousands of dogs and cats is being sold for hefty prices to experimental laboratories, meeting a tragic end. Another is being used for dog fighting and another is the fore-mentioned resale to an unsuspecting new owner.
This is precisely why furry pets must not be allowed to walk freely, whether on the front lawn or out there in the streets, even for brief periods.
Fur babies enjoy the comforts of home, good food, and possibly medical backup in terms of pet health insurance when living with their owners, but the same will not be the case when their lives are in the merciless hands of petnappers.
Unfortunately, even if a fur baby returns home after the owner pays the demanded ransom, it might still be struggling with health issues due to stress, trauma, and isolation. Vet visits and medical assistance are inevitable in such times. Puppy owners should consider buying pet insurance for dogs so that getting timely medical help is much easier in a scenario like this and many more.
