Attempted stealing of dog in forest hill

Merry Christmas to you all!

Wanted to give you a heads-up that my neighbour was assaulted on Christmas night when taking his puppy for a walk around 8.30PM. I had to rush him to the A&E with a head injury!!!

He noticed a guy taking photos of his puppy a few days before, when he asked why he was taking photos the guy took off.

The police have been notified and are taking this VERY seriously!!!
I want all in FH to be vigilant and report anything that looks “not quite right!” Please spread the word to your friends and neighbours so we can stamp this horrible issue out.

Please don’t leave your dogs unattended outside shops, even if only for a minute or 2, it takes seconds for these people to steal your beloved family member.

Puppy/Dog crime is on the rise all over the UK and we need to do something about it quickly

How horrible for your friend - I hope he is ok and not too scared to go outside. Hopefully there was some cctv near that could help identify the assailant(s). Thankfully it sounds like your friend still has his puppy which is great.

The photo could of course be related but might not be, lots of people practise photography on dogs etc in parks, or engage in street photography which is perfectly legal and for the vast majority with no intentions other than getting a nice photo.

As you say dog crime is alarming at the moment, with demand and prices for dogs and puppies especially so high at the moment. It’s sad but as you say never leave your dogs outside shops etc - depressing but a reality. There are of coourse many good stories of people being reunited with their lost dogs and we should be careful but also always keep in mind most people are nice and will help if they can, it’s just the minority who act like this.

Is that the case, or was the puppy actually stolen? If not, how can we know that this has got anything to do with dog theft?

I’m merely going on the title, which says attempted, as opposed to stolen, which implies the attempt was not succesful.

As for whether it was related to the puppy stealing, again that’s what the post says and I have no reason not to believe it. A fair question, but I assume there was an attempt to take the puppy.

Because the guy that assaulted him did so because my friend would not give up the dog when asked.

No CCTV around where we live unfortunately but my neighbour does have a good description of the guy. He is now very nervous to go outside which is even more upsetting.

If you’re going to take “Street Photos” of a puppy and then run off when someone asks what you’re doing, it all seems a bit dodgy to me.

I would be very suspect of anyone taking photos of my dog and then running away when questioned.

Gosh this is just awful! Thank you for the heads up , I’ll be cautious now myself !
I wish your friend a quick recovery and if he ever wants a dog walking buddy - I’m in !

Dreadful. Thanks for letting us know about this. Is there any way this ‘heads up’ can be sent to other local forums such as this one ?

It’s been shared on SE23Dogs, and I can cross-post to SE26.life too.

Feel free to post a link elsewhere you think may benefit the advice.

Do we know the rough location where this happened?

So sorry your friend had to go through this. How awful. My husband has said he’d be happy to accompany your neighbour or walk the dog if he’s still shaken up.

Sorry to hear about that. Hope you make a swift and full recovery.

Do you have an description of the person?

Also happy to join for a walk any evening if would help.

Thanks so much, I’ll pass this on to him.
Might be nice to set up a dog/buddy walking team for people in the neighbourhood!

Please do share if you’d like.
The more people that are aware the better!!!

The Devonshire Road area

Thank you so much, that it so sweet.
My husband is helping him with dog walks in the evening if his partner is out.
Safety in numbers I say!!!

He does have a description but as the police are now involved I’ll wait to get guidance from them about posting if that’s OK?
They are due to visit my neighbour on the 30th to get a full statement, will keep you updated on things

That’s awful - I’ve heard it’s on the rise as people are prepared to pay a premium for a new pedigree pet during lockdown. I heard an old man was attacked and his dog taken near Morden station. Different area, but it’s clearly a trend.

Very much on the rise everywhere in the UK, I don’t think anywhere is immune now.

That’s why I sent the original note out, just want people to be aware that it’s happening here in our neighbourhood.

It takes a village and I think if we’re all a bit more vigilant we might be able to nip this in the bud. After all looking out for your neighbours is what it all should be about!