“Right after we lost ChaCha, we actually lost our mom, so it was just heartbreaking,” Phoenix Paez said, a tear rolling down her cheek.
Tuckers mission is to find a Yorkie named Gus, who disappeared from his backyard on March 29.
They have a fifth dog too, but theyve been desperately searching for their Chihuahua — Cha Cha — since she slipped her leash on a walk just before Christmas a little over a year ago.
“Just imagine someone takes your child from you,” Gus owner, who asked WUSA9 to withhold his name because hes in law enforcement himself, said.
“Chloe was my emotional support, and not having her… during the hardest time of my life has been really tough,” Vorhaus, who is offering a $20,000 reward, no questions asked, said.
Between 9.4 to 9.6 million pets are euthanized in U.S. shelters every year.
When lost dogs and cats are not adopted quickly enough, they’re killed to make room for the new arrivals. Peeva studied 3500 U.S. shelters, but only 1000 responded to their surveys. However, they estimated that over 15 million animals enter shelters every year, and 64% of them are euthanized. The ASPCA reports that the numbers are much lower, but some have questioned the accuracy of ASPCA’s findings and speculated that the organization had downplayed the lost pet crisis. Until every shelter provides researchers with consistent lost pet reports, the total number of adopted and euthanized animals may never be known.
Less than 20% of missing pets are recovered.
Pet detectives, online sleuths, and law enforcement officials have reunited heartbroken families with their lost pets. However, the odds are not in their favor for increasing their success rates. Although pet parents have used social media platforms and online forums to locate animals, criminals have set up fake accounts and websites to exploit and profit from desperate owners.
Dog Theft Increase – Is Your Dog At Risk of Being Stolen?
Note: This article’s statistics come from third-party sources and do not represent the opinions of this website.
Dogs mean everything to their families, and it’s difficult to fathom how anyone could steal your best friend. Dognapping is a horrendous crime, but unfortunately, it’s not a rare occurrence. Punishments for pet theft do not deter criminals because most laws consider dogs and cats as property rather than sentient beings. Dog owners have reported their pets being stolen from their backyards, during walks, and even when the animals are secured indoors.
Although dog thefts are on the rise and the statistics seem alarming, the data highlights the severity of the problem and helps pet parents protect their beloved canines.
