Questions for Canadian Dopers about a lost dog

In My Humble Opinion (IMHO)
#1

I have an online friend who has a weimaraner. Said friend and dog live in Vancouver. My friend’s dog went missing during an off leash walk yesterday morning. My friend is very upset about missing dog and has told me that he thinks the dog was dognapped for a reward.

Does this really happen? I’m not going to call him out on this one way or another, my role now is to be supportative and offer up helpful suggestions. But dognapped? I know I live in a totally different world, but dognappers in Canada? Really? He’s usually very reasonable so I have to assume that he would have some rational reason to think this. I just can’t wrap my mind around the idea of dognappers waiting in the woods in hope of being able to snatch up a large, healthy dog and make off with it, hoping for financial gain.

BTW, if anyone has any suggestions for me to pass along to help him find his well loved dog, please chime in. My theory is that Zack went after a squirrel and got lost. I’ve suggested saturating the area with lost dog signs, calling the local vets and talking to the neighbors. Animal control won’t be open until tomorrow. Any other suggestions will be gratefully passed along for him.

#2

I just moved from Vancouver. Lost dogs, yes. Small dogs taken by coyotes, check. Dognappers? Not that I’ve ever seen or heard tell of.

Lost dog signs, call the vet, go to the dog parks and look loudly for the dog. Talk to other owners, especially if they have [del]weimer weined vieme[/del] the same breed. Seriously, I’d be a lot more worried about coyotes.

#3

Snert! I know just what you mean :slight_smile:

I didn’t think about bark parks (there aren’t any out here). Thank you for that suggestion.

I also didn’t know about coyotes in Vancouver. It makes sense, I just didn’t think about them. Wiemar…errrr…those big grey dogs probably wouldn’t be a coyote pack’s first choice, but I wouldn’t rule them out. Worries now.

I’ve known this guy onine for 3-4 years and the dognapper thing was just so out of charactor for him that I honestly had to ask if there really was any validity to his theory.

#4

Maybe he meant dognapper as in someone who swipes dogs to resell on craigslist or somewhere.

#5

There’s a family near Edmonton who think that’s what happened to their dog.

Here’s their ad.

Dognapped at least, not necessarily for money from them but the last person who saw the dog in the area (a neighbour) says they saw someone trying to tempt it with food.

Coyotes are the big worry around here though.

#6

Maybe its the newest scam. Has he asked you to wire him money for the ransom yet?

#7

He was very clear that he thought he would be getting a phone call from someone soon. Today, he’s not so sure. Canada is the land of the rational, this was so strange that I was all :smack: well…maybe there are bands of roving dognappers in Canada and I just live under a rock. :smack:

I’m a product of public schooling. I really never thougt about coyotes. It makes sense that Vancouver would have coyotes, though. Coyotes thrive around humans. We kill off all of the big preditors and then put out food for them.

Honestly, if he’s a new scammer, he’s spent way too much time working up to that. I’ve known him for at least 3 years. If I do send him a hundred bucks now…he would have prolly have earned about 13 cents an hour.

I did get the toy poodle in Africa scam once. I played with them for a few weeks before they got bored and left.

#8

Well, actually, I was thinking of someone hacking his account, like in the vacation scams.

:cool:

#9

Darn. I didn’t get that. I promise that if I get bad english auto responses I’ll share them.

I live under a rock. What can I say?

Anyhow, idiot dog has been gone for almost 2 days now. I’m guessing that dogs don’t go feral as fast as cats, but I don’t know. My friend is pretty frantic. I really can not believe that his dog was dognapped. I know that Zack is a wonderful dog and handsome and all…but…

Now I’m helping my friend worry about coyotes.

#10

Don’t forget to post on the pets section of the local Craigslist announcing the dog is lost. That way, people might keep an eye out for any suspicious ads about a weim for sale on there, and you might also get in touch with other animal lovers in the area who wouldn’t mind helping to look for him.
I doubt anyone stole him, but it’s certainly possible he was taken in by a dog lover who didn’t know he has an owner already. Is he microchipped? Was he wearing a collar?

#11

What a wonderful idea. Thank you so much. I’ll write an ad right away. My friend has english as a third language, so sometimes needs my help.

As far as I know, dog is collared and chipped and has ears tattooed. I only have cats, so I doubt that I’d check ears for ink, but I know to check the collar tags on dogs.

I agree with you that people don’t just leap out to steal handsome purebreds. That is why I was so ??? when he said that. I’ll go ahead and say that I do sometimes judge by nationality. In my mind, Canadians are way too sensible to do such a thing.

#12

When I lived in Vancouver, I heard a lot of people claim that dognapping and then ‘ransoming’ back the dog was a big problem, but never saw any evidence that it was actually going on. Usually blamed on the large homeless population. Bike-stealing, sure, they do lots of that. But dog-napping? I’d imagine that has more to do with off-leash walks and heavy traffic.

#13

Frankly, I’d worry a lot more about cars than coyotes if you’re talking about a lost Weimaraner. Weimaraners - at least the European bloodlines - are quite large, sturdy dogs bred for hunting. They’re quite similar and related to to German pointers (vorstehers), who are well-known for taking on all kinds of game, from birds via domestic cats (you’ll never have a problem with your neighbor’s cat if you have one of those. OTOH, your neighbor’s cat may very well have some problems…) to deer.

If I were a coyote, I’d think twice about taking on one of those guys. Even if I’d brought some friends to the party :smiley:

#14

Has your friend checked with the shelters yet to see if the dog was picked up? I think shelters try to call people if the dog is micro-chipped/tattooed, but I’m a good example of what not to do - my cat has an ear tattoo, but I’m about three moves behind on updating the contact information on her.

#15

This 100%. Have him check with the chip registry to make sure that his contact info is updated and call the shelters who might still be waiting for a response from the registration company.

#16

I’ve also heard stories about dogs that were in the shelter, but the information got waylaid somehow - going to check in person would be your best bet.

#17

There is a real coyote problem in Van, and we’ve found cat…parts in the park, which is not exactly a fun family event. Dunno how big they would go, though.

#18

It’s your friend’s way of absolving himself of any responsibility for his dog running off. Leash laws don’t exist to annoy you, people, they exist so that this shit doesn’t happen.

I’m not glad your friend’s dog ran away, of course, but it absolutely should have been on a frigging leash.

#19

They exist to protect dogs from getting lost? I don’t think so.

#20

Off leash areas exist so active, working breed dogs can get the exercise they need. I take my dog for an off leash walk every day, in a park designated specifically for dogs to be off leash. But thanks for playing.