Lately there have been more stories popping up about stolen dogs, lost dogs and missing dogs. Dog theft is up but since dog theft is treated, statistically, like any other property theft, it’s almost impossible to really track any numbers.

One thing for sure, dogs are being seen as ‘opportunities’ to the unscrupulous. They steal them, they sell them and they are even ransoming them back to the owners.

The latest scam seems to be aimed at the owners of lost dogs. Imagine, you lose your dog somehow, it’s heartbreaking! You worry and wonder. You plaster posters everywhere, check out shelters, contact lost dog websites to send out alerts, offer a reward.

Then you get a call from someone saying they found your dog. You’re ecstatic!! And this it seems is when the scam starts;

The pitch: “I found your lost dog!”

The scam: A phone call from someone who reports finding a beloved pooch is usually cause for celebration. But Western Union warns that it could be a cruel scam. The company has received reports from owners of lost dogs who say they’ve been called by people identifying themselves as truckers. The dog, a supposed trucker says, was found along a highway.

How it works: The driver says there was no time to get the dog home because of a tight delivery schedule. Now the truck is across the country, but the trucker offers to put the dog on a flight. All you have to do is wire money for the fare. Or sometimes the trucker will also say the dog was injured, and request additional money to cover vet bills.

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Dear Mom and Dad

I died today. You got tired of me and took me to the shelter. They were overcrowded and I drew an unlucky number. I am in a black plastic bag in a landfill now. Some other puppy will get the barely used leash you left. My collar was too dirty and too small, and the lady took it off before she sent me to the Rainbow Bridge.

Would I still be at home if I hadn’t chewed your shoe? I didn’t know what it was, but it was leather and it was on the floor. I was just playing. You forgot to get puppy toys.

Would I still be at home if I had been housebroken? Rubbing my nose in what I did only made me ashamed I had to go at all. There are books on obedience teachers that would have taught you how to teach me to go to the door.

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Again and again I’ve railed about puppy mills and the horrific conditions and the desperate need for legislation. We’ve, thankfully, been seeing more and more raids of puppy mills and the prisoners, little dogs and puppies, some of them who have spent years in cages, finally getting a chance at a life.

This video is from Colorado Springs, CO, where a rescue, Mill Dog Rescue Network, recently took in 125 dogs from a Missouri puppy mill. Some of the footage is shot undercover and shows the conditions many of the puppy mills dogs live in all their lives. And trust me, the conditions shown are not even the worst, I have seen even more horrors.

Puppy Mills, A Look Inside

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In the beginning of July, Sandra Irene Cortes, 44, of Annandale, VA, founder of Assisi Animal Rescue Organization, and Brenda Elizabeth Dodson, 30, of Manassas, a caretaker a Assisi, we both arrested and charged with 28 counts of animal cruelty after a two month investigation of the foundation. Now they’re in trouble again.

Earlier this month, dozens of diseased and malnourished dogs were found in their custody. Some of the animals were standing in their own waste without food or water, and three dogs, abused before they died, were found buried in fresh graves.

A a search warrant at the property and found 111 animals, including 16 cats, all of which the foundation voluntarily turned over to the county, Newsome said. Many of the dogs were underweight, and showed “wounds consistent with fighting,” court records said. The foundation also was not licensed to have that many animals, he said.

Twenty dogs were discovered in 12 stacked cages pressed tightly together and covered with a blue tarp beneath a shed overhang, Newsome said. The cages — some of which contained three dogs — were ill-ventilated, without food or water, and the temperature outside was in the 70s, police said.

“They knew we were coming,” Newsome said. “They put these dogs back there . . . in an attempt to conceal” them.

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“If I catch my dog digging in the garden one more time…” Fortunately the thought of taking drastic action gives way to frustration as you try to cope with a dog who digs.

The annoying habit of digging ranks high on the list of behavior problems of dogs. Unfortunately, there is no one answer to solve this particular problem.

In some instances, the instinct to dig is the heritage of the breed. Over the centuries dogs have been bred for a variety of tasks ranging from the close interaction of toy breeds with their owners to sporting dogs who require regular sessions of physical activity. Nordic dogs dig holes to cool themselves. The heritage of terriers (from the Latin, “terra,” for earth) has been to dig underground after rodents and small game. Dachshunds were developed to chase badgers into their holes.

Some dogs, regardless of heritage, may be more inclined to dig if they are left alone in the yard for long periods of time. Digging is often the result of boredom and this can be a learned behavior in some dogs.

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