On Januray 21 I wrote a piece on the dozen or so missing dogs in my neighborhood. These dogs were lost, ran away, were eaten by foxes, or were dognapped from fall 2012 through the end of 2013. Most of these were small lap dogs that probably fell prey to the very large fox and his two friends who prowl this neighborhood, having been driven into the city by the booming coyote population in Harford County. Two of these dogs—the larger ones—were definitely abducted by human predators.

Over the past four days I have seen five new ‘missing dog’ or ‘stolen dog’ signs in a one mile long, quarter mile wide swath of Northeast Baltimore that I covered. And I did not cover it all, only 40%. Some of the light poles in my area are literally layered with missing dog signs. Bringing a dog into this neighborhood is about as pet-friendly as sending your sixteen year old daughter to peddle girl scout cookies at the local crack-house would be child friendly.

A Staffordshire terrier named Colby leaped his fence and has not been seen.

The other four dogs were abducted: a young shepherd mix, a young husky type, a mid-sized young hound/shepherd mix; and a bulldog. These dogs are all too large for the large fox to haul over a three foot fence. One was seen being taken by young men. It is obvious that professional dognappers have wrangled area pets for pit-bull bait.

Dog fighting in Baltimore is accepted by most of the population and most law officers. In the mid 1990s the premier dog fighting venue was on Asquith, in the driveway of a chop shop, a stone’s throw [even if your mother was throwing the stone] from the Northeastern District Courthouse. By day the place was swarming with cops, lawyers and judges, and overrun by gangbangers, hoodlums, dealers, pimps, hos, Jons, and dog fighting fans by night.

The boys, youths and men who abduct these dogs have dog wrangling skills and equipment. The dogs are sold to dog fighters, who feed these household pets to their brutalized prize-fighting dogs—your coddled pet fed alive to a born and raised killer. This would be like dragging a middle aged accountant out from behind a desk and throwing him in a cage with Phil Baroni to fight for his life.

I realize that most dog owners would rather have their car stolen than their dog. What with the poor quality of humans out there, the family dog is usually more agreeable company than what is staggering through my neighborhood on two feet on any given hour.

I have notice a trend that once identified, can be used as the foundation for foiling these creeps. The portion of Northeast Baltimore I live in was once an orchard, surrounded by the estates of the well-to-do. There are dozens of dilapidated mansions within a quarter mile from the large rundown frame house where I rent a room. Once you get back in the neighborhoods off of the secondary streets you see a mix of post WWII residential housing with small obscured fenced in yards, and pre WWII fat cat digs with vast fenced in back, front and side yards. The more compressed backyards of the most recent housing offer fewer dognapping opportunities. The estate like remains of farm houses and mansions put the fenced in pet at risk. These kinds of plush shaded yards are paradise for a dog and its doting owner, but…

These yards are scouted via vehicle. Dogs are generally only stolen on foot in row house neighborhoods via alleys. If you have a large fenced yard for your dog, do not let him or her out for extended periods. If it is a small dog be particularly mindful to accompany your pet into the yard at night to warn off fox attacks. If you have any size dog do not let it stay outside unattended for lengthy or predictable periods. If you let the dog out for one hour every day after work while you get your shower—it will get snagged and fed to the canine version of 20-year-old Mike Tyson.

6 by 2 city blocks

4 days

4 stolen dogs

I of course would like to sentence dognappers to be thrown in the cage with an MMA fighter. Realistically, I think the public would be better served—providing we were living in the phony construct we imagine wherein the police are assigned to protect and serve—if police K-9 units would be used to target dognapping and dofighting operations.

Those cops would give a shit.