Dog thefts 2022: 17 most stolen dog breeds in the UK including Labradors, Cocker spaniels, Pugs & Huskies

An exclusiveinvestigationinto dog thefts byNationalWorldhas identified the breeds most targeted by criminals last year.Researchshows that French Bulldogs and Chihuahuas are among more than 1,700dogsstolen across the UK in 2022.

NationalWorldsent Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to 45 police forces across the UK. A total of 33 authorities supplied figures but only 28 disclosed the breed of eachdogstolen.

Due to this, the number of stolendogsand its respective breeds are likely to be far higher. Debbie Matthews, co-founder of the Stolen and Missing Pets Alliance, said the number ofdogsbeing stolen was “simply not acceptable”, adding: “The pain and suffering caused to families by pet theft is devastating.”

Here are the breeds ofdogstolen most often in 2022. When compiling this list, we have omitted 29 dogs described by police simply as a ‘bulldog’, as this could refer to a number of different breeds.