Your Vancouver Sun
Dog thieves pose as city officials
Animal-rights activists suspected as puppy stolen from Burnaby home
Denise Ryan, Vancouver Sun
Published: Wednesday, June 27, 2007
The dognapping of Tommy, a 31/2-month-old American Labrador puppy, from a Burnaby home may be the work of animal-rights vigilantes, a B.C. SPCA official said Tuesday.
The theft, which occurred in view of Surrinder Minhas, 60, resembles the work of an underground network of animal activists that illegally "seize dogs they believe are being abused," said the SPCA's Lorie Chortyk.
Last December, three Surrey homes were targeted by a group calling themselves B.C. Animal Rescue, said Chornyk. In each case the dog owners were able to fend off the thieves.
Six-year-old Natasha Toor the day after her black lab puppy was stolen from this every deck on 16 Ave. in Burnaby.
Six-year-old Natasha Toor the day after her black lab puppy was stolen from this every deck on 16 Ave. in Burnaby.
Minhas was unable to do anything to stop Monday's theft. She watched helplessly through a kitchen window as an unknown man and woman came through a gate onto the family's sundeck, snatched the puppy, leashed it and ran away.
The woman wore a black vest with the words "Animal Control" on it.
Minhas screamed and called for her daughter, Anju Parmar. "By the time I got out, they were out front and the man was in the van with our dog," Parmar said.
She said that when her mother tried to stop the thieves, the woman pushed her roughly away and "threw" what looked like an official City of Burnaby notice of animal seizure at her.
The notice bore the Burnaby city crest, a file number and signature, but was later determined to be a fake.
The dog's owner, Renu Toor, was not at home. She said the theft has "traumatized" the family, which includes four children between the ages of two and 16.
Toor feels they were targeted, since the yard was fenced and the dog was not visible from the street, but on a deck up a staircase of 15 steps.
"It feels like someone has been watching us all the time. We are going to be afraid to go outside with the children," Toor said.
Chortyk said the SPCA has visited the family four times -- "responding to complaints from
a neighbour" -- but found no
signs the animal was being treated cruelly.
Toor denies the puppy was being mistreated.
Chortyk said "there were some issues, we were educating the family and they did comply with all our requests."
Complaints included the grandmother and children "roughhousing" with the dog, and the dog being tethered on a rope.
The family has cooperated with the SPCA, Chortyk said, and installed fencing and a doghouse as requested. "There was no evidence this animal was being abused," Chortyk said.
Cpl. Jane Baptista said the RCMP can't say whether the theft is connected to an animal rights activist network, but said police are taking the case very seriously.
"It's a theft," she said, adding it's also an offence to impersonate another person with intent to fraudulently obtain property.
The B.C. SPCA is the only organization authorized to remove animals, and they must get a court order, Chortyk said.
Chortyk believes Monday's thieves are "either members of the same group that was operating in Surrey, or another informal network. In their minds they are rescuing the dogs."
"I want my dog back," Toor said. "The kids are just crying and crying."
Anyone with information is asked to call Burnaby RCMP at 604-294-7922, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-2228477.
The Vancouver Sun DIGITAL
Your Vancouver Province
Dognappers pretend to be animal-control officers to steal dog
By Kate Webb, The Province
Published: Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Brazen dognappers posing as animal-control officers have seized a pup from its Burnaby home in an apparent attempt to rescue it.
The theft of Tommy, a purebred American black lab worth more than $1,000, follows three unsuccessful attempts to snatch dogs in Surrey.
In all cases, the dognappers arrived in vans with decals on the side reading "B.C. Animal Rescue and Control." They wore uniforms bearing the same name and produced fake documents showing they had the authority to seize the animals.
Tommy, the stolen dog.
"I can't say for sure it's the same group, but it's the exact sheet of paper as the one left in Surrey, except the name of the city is changed," SPCA spokeswoman Lorie Chortyk said yesterday.
"They believe they are rescuing animals that need help, but it's sort of a vigilante approach."
Tommy was stolen from the Toor family's home at about 2 p.m. on Monday. A man and a woman, both white, walked straight to the rear of the home in the 7900-block 16th Avenue, opened the door and seized the puppy from inside the house. The woman, a blond, was wearing a vest labelled "Animal Control."
"My mother opened the window and said, What are you doing?' and the lady who was there putting the leash on, she started swearing at my mom," said Anju Parmar, whose niece, six-year-old Natasha Toor, got the dog for her birthday.
Natasha's mom, Renu Toor, followed the woman to a van parked in front of the house. The dognapper threw a "notice of seizure" to the ground. It said she had the authority to seize the dog.
But when the family called the SPCA to get the dog back, they were told no SPCA officer had seized a dog from their house. The SPCA has visited the Toor home four times to follow up on anonymous complaints in the past two months. After the family complied with the SPCA's requests for better fencing and shelter for the pup, it deemed them fit to care for the dog.
Before each of the attempted dog snatchings in Surrey in December, anonymous calls were made to the SPCA complaining of cruelty.
The SPCA, which receives 6,000 reports of cruelty each year and responds to every one, dispatched investigators to all of the homes and determined there were no grounds for removing any of the pets. In all three cases, the owners were suspicious of the phony officers and refused to turn over their pets. Police are investigating.
"It's a pretty brazen act," said
Cpl. Jane Baptista of the Burnaby RCMP. "If these guys are caught, they will likely be charged with impersonating a peace officer or a public officer, as well as one count of theft, and possibly break-and-enter."
The SPCA is the only animal welfare organization in B.C. with the authority to enforce cruelty laws and remove animals in distress.
"We wouldn't just come and take a dog and leave a piece of paper," said Chortyk, noting such a seizure would require a legal warrant, not a "notice of seizure."
Meanwhile, Natasha just wants her puppy back. "Last night she was crying before she went to bed," said Parmar.
"It's very low. I don't think they have feelings at all. Who can take a dog? It's like taking a family member from us."
Call CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-8477 if you can help.