DOGS THAT VANISH

Evening Star, Issue 21822, 11 September 1934, Page 12

DOGS THAT VANISH

ARE THEY STOLEN FOR SALE OVERSEAS? About 100 valuable dogs are sent from Melbourne to India and Japan each year by the “ horse cargo ” ships, and there is a growing suspicion in the minds of owners who nave investigated the mysterious disappearance of dogs in Melbourne that some of them have been stolen and transported overseas. Sydney and Auckland, it is believed (says the Melbourne ‘ Argus ’), are included in the field of operations. For a dog valued at £lO in Australia, a maharajah in India will pay probably £SO. _ Under the classification of “ domestic animals,” dogs which are exported are no concern of the Customs Department. All that is required of the exporter is that he shall arrange with a shipping company for the carriage of the dog and for its care on the voyage—a matter of individual arrangement—and that he shall pay the freight. The cost of sending a dog to India is £5. It is payable and easy—too easy, say some of those who have spent considerable sums of money in efforts to trace faithful and valuable companions which have vanished unaccountably from suburban homes. The offer to school children and to trades people calling at houses in his suburb of liberal rewards for information, the co-operation of the police, advertising, and exhaustive personal investigation availed nothing in the case of one suburban owner who lost two dogs recently. Animals of breeding, docile and of good habit, they had not strayed for .years. One afternoon they were missed, and they may never be seen again—in Australia. The case is not singular. There is nothing new in the deliberate theft of valuable dogs, with the object of holding them for reward upon return to the owner; but those who have made inquiries recently say that there is a strong presumption than in the last year or so the rich markets of the East and of India have encouraged illicit trade. At least one Melbourne dog fancier has boon offered a price for his dogs by a stranger, and, having rejected the offer, has been told bluntly that he had better watch the dogs, because “ there is a good market in Japan.” It could not be suggested that any great proportion of the dogs which are can'ied away on the ships taking horses for India are stolen dogs. Most are sent in charge of grooms on behalf of the owners of the horses. The fact remains that all that is required of a person .sending a dog to India or Japan is to pay £5 for the freight, and perhaps £1 to someone on board to care for and exorcise the dog on the voyage. Black cocker spaniels, wire-haired fox-terriers, and greyhounds particularly are in demand in the East.

It has been suggested that there should he n regulation compelling shippers of dogs to produce documentary evidence of ownership. .