Small, and therefore easy to grasp and carry, a dog of this breed sells for thousands of dollars on the black market in the United States.
Washington (AFP) .- The two thugs who violently pointed a gun at Marieke Bayens, a 27-year-old Californian, wanted neither her bag nor her life. They loved Merlyn, the walking dog, because he was a French bulldog.
From New York to Los Angeles, from Miami to Chicago, Thefts of specimens of this dog breed are increasing steadily in the United States.
Small, and therefore easy to hold and carry, a French bulldog sells for thousands of dollars on the black market as the favorite dog of the stars.
The most famous victim was Lady Gaga. Last year, gunmen kidnapped two of his French bulldogs, Koji and Gustav. In the operation they opened fire and injured the employee in charge of walking them.
The singer offered a reward of 500,000 dollars and finally recovered her two companions.
Marieke Bayens suffered a similar blow in Oakland while walking Merlyn, the dog a friend had given her. The assault occurred in the middle of the street on November 26 at six in the afternoon.
“I was waiting for Merlyn to finish pooping when I saw two people approaching. At first I wasn’t suspicious because they had a mask like everyone else, but I noticed they were wearing gray gloves, and that caught my attention,” he told AFP.
“An instant later, one was in front of me pointing his gun at my face. He told me: ‘Give me the dog!’”, he says. “The other had already grabbed Merlyn from the ground and, at my lack of response, the one holding the gun snatched the strap from my hands. They ran to their car and fled down a street in the opposite direction.”
rare and popular
In other parts of the country, the police observe the same cold determination among the “Frenchies” thieves.
Last year, Sarah Vorhaus shocked San Franciscans by testifying with a swollen face: the young woman in her thirties had recounted the armed robbery she had been the victim of by three men, one of whom had brutally beaten her before to take Chloe, her five-month-old bulldog puppy.
Why are French bulldogs targeted by criminals? First because of their purchase price – between 3,500 and 5,000 dollars on average, or even more – and then because they are difficult to obtain, Brandi Hunter Munden, vice president of the American Kennel Club, told AFP.
“It is a breed that does not have large litters and finding one can take time,” says this specialist. “The fact that they are becoming more and more popular explains the increase in the number of robberies. But the use of violence is a new and worrying phenomenon.”
Faced with the wave of “dognapping” (pun between dog = dog and kidnapping = kidnapping), experts recommend to protect the precious can put an electronic chip, never leave it unattended, keep their identity documents in a safe place, close the cat doors so that it does not come out, equip it with a GPS collar, be careful with strangers who enter the house…
But the most important advice, and probably the least followed, refers to social networks: avoid at all costs posting photos or videos of the dog, which are easily geolocated.
Countless celebrities break this rule: actors, athletes, musicians, models, influencers…
The French bulldog craze has seduced celebrities like Reese Witherspoon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Madonna, Snoop Dogg, Michael Phelps, Chrissy Teigen, and Hillary Duff.
No wonder Hollywood has become a red zone for bulldog thefts.
At the end of December, a resident of the glamorous town almost lost his life near Sunset Boulevard. Robert Marinelli was walking Luca, his eight-year-old bulldog, when he was ambushed.
Violently beaten by two robbers and dragged on the ground by the criminals’ car, he was hospitalized with severe burns.
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
