The municipal dog pound in Almería city has called for help from the townhall after a wave of thefts saw almost two dozen dogs vanish over the last couple of weeks.
Occasional thefts of animals from the pound are nothing unusual say the management, but such a massive theft has prompted calls for the townhall to up security measures at the pound.
The pound says that it’s not unusual for people to steal dangerous dogs out of the pound, either for illegal dog fighting or to be released into the grounds of remote cortijos for protection against assaults, but the latest waves of thefts is unprecedented, as all sorts of dogs are being targeted, many of them smaller pets.
It has been suggested that someone is stealing the dogs in order to pretend they are strays, chip and vaccinate them before transporting them to the north of Europe for sale via charity organisations.