Suspicious activity on dog watch

Liz Webster, the Lib Dems Wiltshire's Police and Crime Commissioner candidate raised the profile of pet theft nationally. It hit a real chord across the nation and resulted in a fully fledged campaign and questions in Parliament.

Following on from the campaign activity, it was welcome that Wiltshire Police launched the Dog Watch scheme in April to help improve confidence in pet safety.

To sign up to Dog Watch go to www.wiltsmessaging.co.uk

Once signed up to Community Messaging, which informs of what's happening locally, you can select Dog Watch to received Dog Watch information.

Dog owners are being urged to report any suspicious behaviour, thefts or attempted thefts to police.

"Although cases of dogs physically being stolen are very low, we see an increase in people discussing suspicious activity and potential attempted thefts of pets on social media. We urge people to make sure they report the issues to the police," Inspector Gill Hughes said.

"We very often see comments on social media, where people are warning other dog owners about a particular issue in a local area or an incident which they believe may have been a potential theft. All information can be vital to help us build up a picture of suspicious activity and hopefully take action against would-be criminals.