L’Enfer, c’est les autres

[oddoneout]

In many places people are now frightened that their dog will be 'abducted' if they tie it up outside the shop. How realistic such fears are is not clear as there are more rumours about dog thefts than substantiated cases.

If I hear a conversation going on in a place where it clearly shouldn't, I sometimes join in, which usually has the desired effect of shutting the others up or making them continue somewhere more private.

Dog stealing(and to a possibly lesser extent cats - their habits make it more difficult to know the cause of a disappearance) has been a problem for quite some time - there's easy money to be made hence the import of puppies from abroad. It got very much worse during Covid when pet ownership suddenly ballooned and purchase prices went from £00s to £000s. People were so "desperate" to have a pet they didn't ask questions and would buy whatever was offered, so nicking a dog and selling it on quickly became easy money. It's eased off a bit but there are still cases being reported locally; two were of dogs taken from securely fenced gardens in broad daylight. The thieves didn't have the sense(or possibly means) to get out of area before trying to sell them on... Where animals are removed, and sold at a distance by someone who disappears immediately, it becomes more difficult - but that's a reason(if it were needed ) for micro-chipping.

[kernelbogey]

L'Enfer ces't les autres et leurs chiensExcuse me, but when did it become acceptable to take a dog into a food shop or restaurant?

My local Picture House cinema held a 'Dog-friendly' showing of Barbie on 6 August!

And here is food critic Jay Rayner having a rant about the issue in his Observer review of a north London restaurant:

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2023/jun/04/the-parakeet-london-the-food-is-great-but-beware-of-the-dogs-restaurant-review

[Old Grumpy]

Guide/hearing dogs excepted, of course. "Comfort pets" - . Just leave the dog at home if you're going shopping!

[Serial_Apologist]

Where animals are removed, and sold at a distance by someone who disappears immediately, it becomes more difficult - but that's a reason(if it were needed ) for micro-chipping.

Dog thieves are reported to be removing microchips, it has to be said.

[kernelbogey]

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/sep/14/behaviour-music-gigs-live-shows

Reading this reminded me of this thread. Although the gigs Price is writing about, and the behaviour at them, are different from the Proms, there's a societal trend he identifies here exhibited in both contexts: 'being a dick' to use his words.