Stealing someone’s dog is an act of pure malice.
It’s an unimaginable act of cruelty and those who do it are without a shred of decency or humanity.
In Scots common law theft cannot be an accidental occurrence.
It requires intent, or as it’s known in legal jargon ‘Mens Rea’.
And it requires another element known as the ‘Actus Reus’, the taking of the property.
Both elements are involved in what is a despicable crime: the intent to deprive the owner of their property without their consent, and the physical removal of the property.
But to define someone’s dog in traditional property terms is almost obscene.
And it goes nowhere close to describing the relationship of the vast majority of dog owners with their pooch.
Even the notion of ‘ownership’ would be anathema to most dog lovers.
A dog is much more than just something which is ‘owned’, much more than just a family pet.
It’s part of the very fabric of a family, giving love, affection, and companionship in equal measure.
No financial value can be placed on losing a family member by an act of theft.
Mixed opinions on whether punishment for dog theft needs to change
To deprive someone permanently of a loved member of the household is beyond wickedness.
So I understand why Maurice Golden, the MSP, wants to make the act of dog theft a specific statutory offence with a maximum punishment of five years in prison, and hopes to introduce his Dog Abduction (Scotland) bill in the Scottish parliament.
In Scots common law, the punishment for theft – in theory – is a maximum of life imprisonment.
But the Dean of the Faculty of Advocates Roddy Dunlop QC has been quoted as saying: “It’s hard to imagine anyone being sent to prison for life for stealing a dog but that is notionally possible.
“If you introduce the statutory offence with a maximum sentence of five years, then you’ve actually diluted the protection, you’ve not increased it’.
I’m in full agreement about the heinous nature of the crime which Golden is angry about and wants to see treated as the serious criminal activity that it is.
In my book dog thieves occupy the moral ground located between a snake’s belly and a skunk’s claws.
As Golden’s foreword in his proposed bill says “For some people their dogs are by quite some distance the most important parts of their lives.
“Yet as it stands in Scotland the law does not view them that way.
“Instead when a dog is stolen, it is regarded in the same way as the theft of a household commodity.”
Basically the law currently places someone stealing the family dog in the same bracket as someone nicking your bike or your purse.
Time for a proper deterrent to dog theft in Scotland
I’m not making light of either of those things.
I’m still angry about the housebreakers who stole my wife’s engagement ring in our flat in Dundee 35 years ago.
But even sentimental and expensive things can usually be replaced or covered by insurance.
Golden quotes the animal welfare and re-homing charity Blue Cross assessment of the situation across the UK thus: “The theft of a pet is an extremely upsetting and traumatic experience for the owner and can obviously have terrible consequences for the pets themselves.
“But the law currently doesn’t reflect this. It is ineffective and doesn’t pose any deterrent to determined thieves.”
I am not a dog owner so I have no dog in this fight.
But I know plenty of owners. And I know how utterly heartbroken they would be if they lost their dog to theft.
A much stronger deterrent than we have currently is badly needed.
