Draft:Animal theft

Animals may be stolen to acquire or resell them, to extort a ransom from the owner, for consumption of their meat, for medical research or for other reasons. Punishment for theft of horses and cattle have historically been extremely severe, including the death sentence. Theft of pets such as cats and dogs has been described by UK Home Secretary Priti Patel as causing "great emotional distress".

Types of animal theft include:
 * Cattle rustling - theft of livestock has been recorded for many millennia . Branding and tattooing may be used to mitigate the problem.
 * Horse theft
 * Dognapping. In the USA, the Animal Welfare Act of 1966, also known as the "dognapping law", was introduced after a pet dog was stolen and allegedly used for medical research. In the UK during the Covid lockdown period the number of dogs reported stolen rose by 19% in 2020 to 2,438.