TIME

Crime unleashed

FOR YEARS, ROOSEVELT RODRIGUEZ and his dog Chanel had a routine. The Houston heating technician would get home from work, swing open his front door and greet his French bulldog, who’d spin and dance in excitement as he repeated her name over and over again. Then, Rodriguez would quickly change out of his work clothes while Chanel sat by the open front door, waiting for him to come outside with her.

But on Feb. 22, when Rodriguez stepped out of his house to walk the 25-lb. dog with the cream-colored face, his yard was empty. Puzzlement turned to panic when an elderly neighbor waved him down and uttered five words: “Someone just snatched your dog.”

“It hit me hard,” says Rodriguez, 30. “I didn’t want to believe it.”

It’s the reality many animal lovers are facing as a surge in pandemic pet adoptions offers opportunities for criminals to seize on nationwide demand and shelter shortages. More pets, particularly small and easy-to-grab breeds and puppies, are being stolen and resold by thieves eager to prey on petless people’s desires for animal

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from TIME

TIME3 min read
Stepping Up
Where do you find influence in 2024? You can start with the offices of the Anti-Corruption Foundation in Vilnius, Lithuania, where TIME met with Yulia Navalnaya earlier this spring. There, the activist is working with 60 supporters—whose anti-Kremlin
TIME4 min read
America: Start here
If there’s one thing you should know about me, it’s that I’m utterly unsuited for bureaucracy. I don’t know my passwords to anything. I have thousands and thousands of unread emails. I don’t open mail because I assume it’ll be bad news. I’ve never ha
TIME3 min readIntelligence (AI) & Semantics
WILLIAM McRAVEN
You recently received the Bezos Courage and Civility Award, with $50 million to give to charities of your choice. How are you planning to use it? Almost all of this is going to be focused on veterans and their families—the children who’ve lost father

Related Books & Audiobooks