Is the “fence marked” rumour of dog napping true do you think?

[Soubriquet]

We have come home to discover our back fence has a splodge of paint on one small part. There is no reason for the paint to be there.

Dh is now panicking thinking we have been targeted by dog thieves. We have two chihuahuas.

I am concerned but I also think he might be worrying over nothing. Told him to just make sure whenever the dogs are let out in the garden, that someone is keeping an eye and that all doors are locked at all times just in case

The mark

Remove the paint?

No.

Why would anyone bother to physically mark somewhere up in this digital day and age?

Any posts saying they know someone who was burgled after someone else marked the pavement / fence / door blah blah blah are full of shit. It's a old wives tale.

See Snopes.

I did think so. All the same wouldn’t hurt to take a few precautions. Thanks

Why wouldn’t they just steal the dogs while you were out?

why go to all the trouble of signalling their intentions, putting you on alert, and risk coming back for the dogs when they won’t know if you’re in or not?

seems a particularly inept method of thieving to me.

Does to me too but dh won’t hear another word about it. So I’ll let him get himself worked up about it, put in a few precautions till he calms down and forgets about it

Taking precautions seems a sensible way forward, rather believe it may be a sign and act upon it, that presume it isn't and the dogs are taken.

While I love the idea that modern thieves operate as some bizarre Victorian fraternity, with special signs and symbols - no, dog thieves have not marked your house. If they wanted to remember your house to return to it later, they would take a picture or drop themselves a pin. And if they wanted to tell someone else, they would send them a WhatsApp message.
L

Same level of worry, plenty of good advice and debunking!

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/4967112-someone-marked-my-car-last-night-target

Thanks all. I haven’t bothered calling the police or posting anything on fb so I’m not overly worried but I’ve let dh worry instead. He hasn’t said or posted anything either but has given instructions to call police if anyone suspicious is seen sniffing around. Our back gate is not on a public pathway. You have to actually turn down a driveway and round the back to get to it. There’s no reason to actually go near our back gate at all unless you use it

so I’ve said I’ll do that and then left it at that

Ok I spoke too soon. He’s posted on the local Facebook page 🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️

Oh dear.

He's that person.

Yeah he is. I love him to bits but he can be a bit irrational about it all.

Meh, mine can't tell a scam email / texts from a legit one and frequently clicks on links he's sent by scammers.

Took me three days to wrestle control back from one after they took over his FB account a few months ago. 🙄

I'm team dh.
I'd be totally paranoid, wouldn't post on SM though, I don't want my paranoia known to the public 😁
I love my little dog and would protect her with my life, the thought of losing her would set me off.
#teamdh #savethedoggo #paranoid

It does no harm to keep an eye on them while they’re in the garden if they can be seen from any access road or path, especially little ones that are easily picked up.

The poster saying
”
“Any posts saying they know someone who was burgled after someone else marked the pavement / fence / door blah blah blah are full of shit. It's an old wives tale.”
is wrong.

Call me full of shit all you want, so polite, but my grandmother & her sister who live together had their house broken into after a chalk mark had been left on their gatepost. The local police said it was a known thing in the area.

@Darklane when, in the 1960s?

Did the police do a press release? Fairly important if true....

Yeah, very handy for the judge and jury when you get caught too.

Perhaps the old ways are more secure?

https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/local-news/chalk-marks-outside-dog-owners-18702509.amp

If you got caught stealing a dog, the compelling evidence would be that you were caught stealing a dog. And if you didn't get caught, your WhatsApp messages would never come to the attention of the police anyway

I love the panic and excitement that a good old-fashioned scaremongery rumour can cause. In that Cambridge News article you have to read a long way down until you get to:

Residents in Duxford, Sawston and Earith have all noticed chalk marks appearing on fences and walls over the weekend, however, no confirmed thefts have been reported to the police.
Panic has broken out on social media and community groups as people are suitably worried about their pets with some saying they would not risk leaving them home alone after recent activity.

and

While there has undoubtedly been a rise in dog thefts over the last weeks, it's important to remember that many reports on social media have not been verified by police.

So this chalk marking is all nonsense.

I do enjoy a good baseless panic though. The scary clowns were a great favourite.

And if you have a digital record of all the dogs you and your gang have stolen, then you can be charged for those too.