One man found paint marks at the rear of his friend’s home in Gobnascale
CRIMINALS have been marking the fences of homes in Derry where dogs are kept in back gardens so that thieves can return to steal them.
At least six dogs have been stolen from owners in the city over the past ten days.
The community is also being warned that the gang – using a white Hiace or Ford van – are also going door-to-door pretending to sell items in order to ‘case’ homes.
“Our fence and several of our neighbour’s fences who have dogs have all been marked with a white line,” said one resident of the Waterside.
“We have 2 dogs so there were 2 white lines together and our next door neighbour has one and had one line painted.
“We had people knocking on our door today trying to sell us just about anything. This is no coincidence.”
She pleaded: “Please be vigilant and keep your dogs inside as we have heard that they have been known to come back during the night to snatch the dogs.”
Another resident found paint marks on a friend’s home in Foxhills, Gobnascale.
He also urged pet owners to be vigilant.
Anyone seeing suspicious activity is asked to report it to police.
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