Litter of corgis stolen as demand soars during lockdown

A litter of six cardigan corgi puppies have been stolen from the home of a breeder in Co Kilkenny.

Marie Butler runs boarding kennels in Grovine with considerable security and gardaí believe it was a professional heist.

The puppies were stolen on Tuesday by thieves who scaled a 2.5m wall at the back of the property.

The puppies were going to fellow breeders with the exception of two, which Mrs Butler planned to keep.

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Mrs Butler had given the puppies their last feed at 10.30pm. Then she went inside to wash her hands and heard a squeal. She found the side gate was open and the puppies were gone.

The cardigan corgis are valuable dogs from a champion show line.Usually each of these puppies would be sold for €1,000, but there has been a premium on all puppies since Covid-19 and they could be sold for twice that price abroad.

‘Lockdown puppies’

"They are called lockdown puppies because everybody wants a puppy," said Mrs Butler's niece, Tara Bagnall, who shows and occasionally breeds bichon frises.

“It’s a huge problem. This was well planned. The ports have all been notified. They are bringing them abroad.

“We don’t know how they knew, but they knew about the puppies. We kept it quiet for that very reason.”

An Garda Síochána and ports have been notified and a social media campaign has commenced.

The Bichon Club of Ireland secretary Clíona Beattie said they were "horrified" at the level of dog theft in Ireland at moment. " It has reached boiling point," she said.

The Covid-19 pandemic has seen huge increases in the price of puppies as people scramble to buy dogs for company.

Escalating prices have led to a warning by An Garda Síochána to pet owners to take care if they have high-value dogs as there has been an increase in thefts.

Gardaí have also warned the public not to buy puppies from owners they cannot trace.

Demand has far outstripped supply, leading to inflation in the cost of puppies last year.

A pedigree Labrador puppy, which cost €500 before the lockdown, is selling for €2,000 now. Similarly, designer cross-breeds, such as the cockapoo or the labradoodle, which sold for €350 before the lockdown, are now selling for €2,000-€2,700, and mongrel puppies, which had no value before the lockdown, are now selling for €250, Dogs Trust Ireland said.