A petition in support of reforming pet theft laws has gathered over 6,000 signatures, putting it within touching distance of its goal of 7,000.
Hosted on campaign website, MyUplift, and created by Lisa O’Connor, the petition quotes former Minister of State at the Department of Justice, James Browne, who said in response to parliamentary questions that dog theft “is a serious crime and that can come with prison sentences of up to ten years for theft and for handling of stolen property and up to five years for possession of stolen property”.
“If a burglary is involved, the sentence may be up to 14 years imprisonment,” Minister Browne said on that occasion.
However, the petition homepage states that pets “are NOT Property”.
“Dogs and other companion pets are still being stolen daily in Ireland,” it reads, adding that “the theft of a pet needs its own classification and adequate punishment. Pet theft is a LOW RISK/ HIGH REWARD CRIME.”
In describing why the issue is of importance, Ms O’Connor wrote that the issue began to spike in Ireland “during the pandemic in 2020 when more people started bringing dogs into their homes”.
“Companion animals, dogs in particular, are still being stolen in large quantities and daily,” the petition information says.
“They are being stolen to order or if the dog happens to be a breed in high demand. Currently the theft of a pet is treated by the law, the very same as stealing a mobile phone,” she wrote, reiterating that pet theft requires its own classification as a crime.
“The theft of a pet can have a devastating effect on its owners and their family. This should be reflected in the sanction given out for such a theft.
“Where the theft is of therapy or support dog there should be an even greater sanction,” she added, encouraging readers to sign her petition today.
Gript asked An Garda Síochána for statistics related to pet theft over the past 12 months, but a reply was unforthcoming by the time of publication.
However figures contained in response to a number of parliamentary questions in recent years reveal that while the number of reported incidents of pet theft spiked during the pandemic years of 2020-2021, the figures to mid-May 2024 have trended back to pre-pandemic levels:
Should a response be received from gardaí containing figures related to pet theft over the past 12 months, this article will be updated to include it.