Maine Coon among the most commonly stolen cats in Britain

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The Maine Coon is among the cat breeds most commonly stolen in Britain (Daily Express). The others are: Bengal, Siamese and of course the non-purebred moggy. 

Magical Maine Coon queens of Norway. Moody...looking and feeling like snowy Norway
Magical Maine Coon queens of Norway. Moody...looking and feeling like snowy Norway. Photo:  Instagram. Maine Coon allowed outside unsupervised. Possibility of theft? Perhaps not.

Increase in thefts

In Britain, in 2021, there has been a 12.3% rise in cat thefts since the beginning of the year to April. There has been a threefold increase in the past five years. The Mail Online reports that up to 360,000 cats have been stolen in a year in the UK!

That is a staggering figure. Although the Maine Coon is one of the favourites to be stolen, of the purebred cats, the Bengal is top of the list for thieves. The reason might be because the Bengal cat stands out more than the Maine Coon and therefore is more of a target.

Over the past two years, there has been a 40% increase in thefts of cats in the UK. Less than 20% of cats stolen are recovered by the police and reunited with their owners.

Insurer

Direct Line Insurance tells us that thefts take place for two reasons: reselling for money and for breeding. And thieves have learned that they can get away with it. It is very easy to steal a cat that is allowed outside for obvious reasons. Nobody is looking. Especially if you are a thief on the lookout for a cat at night.

It would seem to be a waste of time (almost) to report a possible theft to the police. In any case, you don't know if your cat has been stolen. All you know, normally, is that your cat is missing. And there lies one of the great problems.

Direct Line say that they received claims and reports of 261 stolen cats in 2016. I presume that these were reports to the police that their cat had been stolen and then the owner of the cat had reported the matter to Direct Line. Comment: it would seem to me that these people might be reporting cat theft to the police in order to make a viable claim against their insurer.

Confinement

I would expect, actually, that very few Maine Coons are stolen but some are because their owners let them go outside to roam freely. The obvious method to protect your cat from theft is to keep them confined either to inside the home or the home plus an outdoor enclosure which would be the back garden if fenced with a customised cat confinement construction.

Micro-chipping

Cats to be microchipped by law in the UK as government cracks down on pet thefts

There are still people who are not micro-chipping their cats. It's going to be obligatory in the UK pretty soon but if you don't microchip your cat it is very difficult to be reunited with him or her when they are lost. I don't think this actually makes any difference with respect to a theft. I recall thieves cutting out microchips from cats to raise any evidence of ownership. Or perhaps they can reprogram the microchip. That would seem entirely plausible to me. I would doubt that micro-chipping would help if the cat is stolen but it may do sometimes.

Letting your cat wander can lead to cat ownership problems

Another issue with micro-chipping is that they can lead to ownership disputes. The original owner is listed on the microchip but the new owner who has rescued a cat or adopted a cat at a rescue centre claims ownership. They possess the cat. They don't want to give the cat up. The original owner wants to recover their cat and bingo you have a dispute which goes nowhere.

The impossibility of proving cat theft and sharing cat ownership

GPS trackers and outdoor cameras

If an owner is determined to let their Maine Coon go outside freely they can do a couple of things which might help. They can subscribe to one of those GPS tracking websites. You download an app and you place a collar around your cat. You can then track your cat on your mobile phone. It will tell you exactly where your cat is at any one time. This is highly useful in cat caregiving because it allows you to know what your cat does. This can be a mystery to many owners. However, this going to cost some money and this adds up over the years. People don't want to spend that kind of money.

Security cameras

And nowadays, there are many outdoor security cameras either integrated into the doorbell or separately. These can help you surveil the area surrounding your home. As most cats spend a lot of time just sitting and watching within the environs of the home such surveillance cameras help to protect them because thieves know about these cameras. Any deterrent to casual theft is useful. Although most of these thefts are carried out by gangs, professional thieves, as opposed to casual thieves, who have a network and an outlet to sell the cats.

Location: United Kingdom

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