A private pet detective says animal thefts are on the rise in Queensland, but the government is lagging behind other states that have made 'dognapping' a standalone criminal offence.
Jessie-Rae Engley's six-month-old dachshund puppy Stanley was stolen from her Logan Central property on February 3.
Her motion-activated home security camera captured a man, dressed in black, disappearing down the side of her house at 11.26am.
Ms Engley said moments later the feed went blank when her mains power went off.
She said she immediately rushed home from work to find Stanley missing and called triple zero.
Unbeknownst to her, others in her street had already phoned police to report a suspicious-looking man bundling a yelping dog into a red utility and leaving the scene.
Police have confirmed they were called to the property and are investigating.
Ms Engley believes Stanley was taken by someone she knows and is offering a $500 reward to track her pet down.
"This guy has taken my child's best friend and my best friend," she said.
"It has completely turned our world upside down.
"Some people don't see it like that, but I definitely do."
Kirilly Cull, the founder of Missing and Stolen Pet Investigators Australia, is on the case.
Her organisation reunites thousands of owners and their missing pets across the country each year with the assistance of a 45,000-strong network of amateur cyber sleuths on social media.
Ms Cull said she was aware of 20 cases in Queensland in the past year in which pets were stolen, as well as hundreds more where missing animals were found and not returned to their rightful owners.
She said the motives varied for taking a pet, including financial gain from selling or breeding, extorting owners over unpaid debts, disgruntled neighbours or ex-partners as a form of emotional abuse.
Under Queensland law, dogs are considered property, and the offence is logged in the police database as 'stealing', so there is no accurate way of tracking how often it occurs.
In December, South Australia joined New South Wales and the Northern Territory in making dog theft a specific criminal offence.
The new laws specifically target pet thieves who attempt to profit from stolen animals, imposing a smaller custodial sentence than a normal stealing offence, but financial penalties of up to $50,000.
Ms Cull believes Queensland should follow suit and set up a dedicated task force within the Queensland Police Service for domestic animal-related crime.
"When the laws say your pet is worth the same as your mobile phone or your car, that just does not sit right with owners because they are family members," she said.
"Animals mean so much to everyone but the police cannot do something unless the legislation is changed."
Jeni Merry knows the pain of having a pet stolen.
In December 2020, she had four of her litter of seven newborn cavoodles stolen when someone broke in to her Elanora home, prying open the rear security door with a crowbar.
Ms Merry said police detectives located the puppies four days later and brought them home.
Her ex-husband was charged with burglary, later pleading guilty to the lesser charge of enter premises and commit an indictable offence.
He escaped a conviction and was instead given a $800 fine.
"He got away with it pretty much — he got a warning — and it caused me so much heartache," she said.
"It was absolutely horrific ... It tore my heart out.
"They are part of the family — it's like someone coming in and stealing or kidnapping your child."
Changing the legislation to make pet stealing a standalone offence is not currently on the Queensland government's agenda.
"A pet is a member of the family, and anyone who steals a pet should face the full force of the law," a spokesperson for Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman said in a statement.
"That's why the Criminal Code already contains the offence of stealing which carries a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment."
