Could nose prints and ID papers for dogs tackle thefts?
FIND OUT WHAT'S ON NEAR YOU WITH OUR NEWSLETTER Invalid Email Something went wrong, please try again later. SIGN UP Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice  Dog owners should be made to carry identity documents for their pets in a bid to combat the growing number of thefts, a police and crime commissioner has said. Martin Surl, who is PCC for Gloucestershire, said dogs should have the same sort of ownership papers as cars. He also suggested that nose prints could be used to identify dogs because they are as unique as human fingerprints. Speaking on LBC on Wednesday morning, he told Nick Ferrari: Chipping is part of the answer, but we know this is a brutal trade. We know thieves would gouge those out.  During an earlier media briefing held by the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, Mr Surl said: On a car you know who its bought from, its got certain standards, its got an MOT, if you sell it you have to put a document in. For a dog, something you absolutely love, you havent got to do anything like that. All you have to do is a chip which nobody really checks anyway. Its not hard to do, a simple piece of legislation. When you find a dog, the person has to prove its theirs, not the other way around.  (Bud was reunited with owner Holly 18 days after he was taken in Nottinghamshire with the help of a charity Beautys Legacy)  DogLost, a UK charity that helps victims of dog theft, recorded a 170% increase in the crime, from 172 dogs reported stolen in 2019 to 465 dogs in 2020. Police chiefs have warned that organised criminals have turned to dog theft because the rise in demand for puppies during lockdown meant increased profits. Last month, Home Secretary Priti Patel pledged to go after pet thieves, while Nottinghamshire Police have appointed a specialist officer to focus on the crime. Mr Surl said the issue went beyond just the police: This is a problem that needs all the other agencies  the RSPCA, Trading Standards, the border guard, the Gardai over in Ireland, and even in Europe as well.  Dog theft is not defined as a specific crime, with dogs classed as property under the Theft Act 1968, meaning the number of offences recorded may appear lower than in reality. Sussex PCC Katy Bourne ran a survey online which attracted 124,729 responses, with 96.9% saying dog theft is a serious problem. It found that 78.4% of people with dogs said they had grown more fearful of taking walks during the day, with 83% more fearful of night walks. And 22% said they knew someone who had had a dog stolen in the past year. (Gloucestershire PCC Martin Surl)  Katy said: If you take a dog out of someones back garden and you bung it in your car and its all caught on CCTV that would be recorded as theft. If you steal a dog from somebody as theyre walking it on the lead that would be recorded in the high street as a robbery. None of it is specific to a dog.  Pets are part of peoples family and the devastating emotional impact of this crime should no longer be overlooked, she added. Katy is due to speak to Home Office officials about the rise in thefts.