Willow was Freya Woodhall’s family dog, who was happily playing in their garden back in 2018. But to the dismay of the owners, the pet went missing and was never seen again. Even after two years, no one found the dog, and the family stayed in limbo over the loss of their beloved canine.

Taking care of your pets like family members is essential

Pet theft has been going around for ages, and despite the UK’s Theft Act 1968, that has a seven-year penalty for stealing any home animal, the government has been unable to stop the rising number of missing dogs from people’s houses.

The situation got even worse after the lockdown of early 2020. Since people are having a hard time coping with the longer homestays, they need pets to keep them company. As the demand for domesticated animals went high, so did their price, which resulted in criminals taking advantage of the situation.

Pets can help you keep anxiety and depression away

The dog-nappers had the knowledge of people who wanted a pet at any cost, and when the prices went up, they understood the profit this “business” offered and went on to snatch animals from unaware owners.

All this resulted in a group of animal lovers and activists starting a campaign for introducing a new pet theft law.

Unfortunately, the government officials weren’t impressed with this move and insisted that the 1968 law was in place, which sadly covers pets as “property” just like a smartphone or a laptop.

The campaigners have tried to get a new rule for domesticated animals specifically, and for that, they signed three petitions, with a total of 250,000 signatures.

As other crimes have gone down during the lockdown period, it’s utterly shocking to witness the treatment of dogs as properties, and instead of caring for them, some people are trying to make money out of selling the stolen pets.

But more than this criminal act, the supporters of pet law reforms are perplexed that the police are unable to solve the cases seriously.

According to the reports, 2018 had the highest number of pet robberies reported, but only 17% of those animals returned to the owners; the rest have been lost ever since.

Dangerous people might take your pet away to sell them off

It became crucial to reinstate new regulations regarding the safety of pets. The petitions clearly state that all home animals must not be considered as mere “property,” and their rights must be recognized by everyone. The call was made in 2018 against the Theft Act 1968, but the government rejected it based on “sufficient sanctions.”

Once again, the lawmakers are holding that the old pet theft law is more than enough. When a similar petition was filed in early 2020, the same words were reiterated, and the officials declared no change in the act.

While all of us are going through a tough situation at the moment, not recognizing the rights of helpless animals and not preventing the pain they are going through, shows how our humanity has been affected by this pandemic.