Councillors vow to help crack down on a spate of dog thefts throughout the Harborough district

Councillors are vowing to help crack down on a spate of devastating dog thefts throughout the Harborough district.

They are pledging to take new measures to try to beat dog thieves after a string of beloved pets have been stolen in Harborough over the last few weeks alone.

Cllr Phil Knowles, the leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition, told a full Harborough council meeting last night (Monday): “There has been a lot of dog thefts in the area recently – and it’s very worrying for pet owners.

“What is being done to help stop this?”

Cllr Simon Whelband, the authority’s Cabinet lead for Wellbeing, Communities and Housing, replied: “This is a particular issue which has been widely reported in the local media.”

The Kibworths member said he had spoken to the council’s Community Safety Partnership (CSP) team and Harborough police about combatting the mini-crime spree.

Cllr Whelband said the council is buying new scanners to enable them to scan dogs’ microchips as they step up efforts to clamp down on the growing threat to people’s pets.

Cllr Phil King, the council leader, added: “Dog thefts are on the increase.

“We all need to work together to try to stop this.

“And we need to make more people aware of this problem through social media – it’s very important that we all do what we can.”

The issue blew up days after a young black female Labrador was snatched from a farm near Billesdon in the north of Harborough.

The pet was stolen either late at night last Thursday (February 18) or in the early hours of Friday (February 19), said Leicestershire Police.

The Labrador was taken as a huge search was launched for five working basset hounds stolen from a high-profile pack’s kennels in a Harborough village as police hunt the culprits.

The highly-trained dogs, owned by the historic Westerby Basset Hounds, were taken from their kennels on Walcote Road, South Kilworth, last Wednesday night (February 17) or early on Thursday morning.

They were stolen after a pet dog called Logan was pinched from boarding kennels in North Kilworth a week last Friday.

The three-year-old cockapoo was spotted running wild near Coalville four days later and recovered before being reunited with his ecstatic owner Liz White, 68.