From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2001:
2001 pet theft log starts with a bang!-bang!
COLFAX, Louisiana--The ANIMAL PEOPLE pet theft log for 2001 started with a bang!-bang! on January 6 when an unidentified homeowner shot Stanley Brimzy, 21, twice in the chest as Brimzy was in the alleged act of stealing dogs. Alleged accomplices Larry Thomson, 19, and anunidentified 16-year-old were charged with obstructing justice for lying to Natchitoches Parish police about how it happened. Brimzy, in critical condition, was also to be charged--if he survives. The police did not suggest a motive for the alleged attempted thefts.
A record number of dog thefts for laboratory use resulted incriminal charges during 2000--but all of the alleged thefts were by the same accused perpetrator, former football coach Dan Shonka, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service on January 3, 2001 charged Shonka with defrauding greyhound stable owners of at least 341 retired racing dogs who were allegedly to be placed in homesas pets, but were instead sold to Guidant Corp., of St. Paul, Minnesota, for use in experiments involving heart surgery. The 341 were among 850greyhounds that Shonka sold to Guidant between 1996 and March 2000. Shonka reportedly came under investigation by the USDA and theWisconsin Division of Gaming as result of complaints filed by Susan Netboy, of the Greyhound Protection League.
While the Shonka case features many dogs but only one suspect, the most publicized case of 2000 allegedly involved 11 students at Mojave High School in Las Vegas, who on September 27, 2000 stole only the Englishbulldog Blue, mascot of the football team at rival Centennial High. Some of the students allegedly then tried to make Blue fight a pit bull. Nine of the 11 defendants were convicted of related offenses before Christmas2000.Verified U.S. pet theft cases, 1978-2000
Between 1978 and 1987 thirteen states repealed laws requiring public animal shelters to surrender impounded animals to research institutions. Attention to pet theft soared 1988-1991 after the firstintroduction of the bill which became the Pet Theft Act, adopted byCongress as part of the 1990 Farm Bill. The Pet Theft Act came into force on January 1, 1993. Vigorous USDA enforcement followed until April 19,1995, when the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrow Federal Building inOklahoma City killed Midwest Stolen Pet Task Force chief Richard Cummins and six of his staff. Rising numbers of dog and cat thefts for lab use during the past two years may reflect a recovery of USDA ability to investigate and prosecute cases.
Thefts of birds and herpetological pets are not included in the totals pertaining to perpetrators and motives. The only common motive appears to be profit by illicit sale as pet.