Data check · Updated October 2026
Dog theft statistics in the US: what police data shows, what the laws say, and where the 2 million figure comes from
There is no national count of stolen dogs in the US. The often repeated claim that 2 million pets are stolen each year traces to an advocacy group that gives no method. The best public number is FBI incident data: in 2023, agencies reporting to NIBRS logged 11,628 incidents in which a pet was stolen, per a tabulation of the FBI file. State police data show few stolen animals are recovered: in Oklahoma, 63 of 613 animal items stolen in 2024 were recovered.
Key findings
- No US agency publishes a national count of stolen dogs; the FBI codes stolen animals only as Pets (code 73) or Livestock (code 18).
- In 2023 FBI NIBRS data, 11,628 incidents involved a pet being stolen, about 0.14% of stolen property entries, per Jacob Kaplan's tabulation.
- The same 2023 data show 1,490 entries of pets recovered by police, against 163,339 incidents with firearms stolen.
- The claim that 2 million pets are stolen in the US each year comes from Last Chance for Animals, which calls it an estimate and cites no method.
- Oklahoma police recovered 63 of 613 animal items stolen in 2024, a 10.3% recovery rate; by value, 7.6% was recovered.
- Arkansas reported $340,587 of pets stolen in 2025 and $27,355 recovered, or 8.03%.
- AKC Reunite's database counted 71 dogs stolen in 2008 and 831 in 2015, but it counts only its own enrolled dogs whose owners reported a theft.
- In a 2010 national survey, 14% of dogs had been lost in the past five years and 93% of those were found, most often by searching the neighborhood (49%).
How many dogs are stolen each year in the US?
Nobody knows the exact number, because no US agency counts stolen dogs. The closest national figure is FBI incident data. In 2023, police agencies reporting to the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) logged 11,628 incidents in which a pet was stolen, per a tabulation by criminologist Jacob Kaplan.
That figure covers all pets, not only dogs. The FBI's Pets code (73) includes cats, dogs, household birds, fish, rodents and reptiles kept for companionship. Dogs commercially raised for profit are coded as Livestock (18) instead, so a burglary of a breeder's puppies may not show up as a pet theft at all. Police K-9s fall under Law Enforcement Equipment.
It is also an incident count, not a count of animals. One incident can involve several dogs, and NIBRS does not record how many items of the same type were taken. Not every police agency reports to NIBRS, and many owners never file a police report.
If you are tallying the cost of a new dog, theft risk is one line among many. Our cost of owning a dog report covers the rest, and dog ownership statistics show how many US homes have one.
Are 2 million pets really stolen every year in the US?
There is no evidence for it. The 2 million figure appears on the website of Last Chance for Animals, an advocacy group. It says that historically an estimated two million pets are stolen in the US each year, with no survey, dataset or method behind it.
We could not trace the number to any police, government or peer-reviewed source. News stories often attribute it to the American Kennel Club, but the AKC's own published theft database counted hundreds of dogs a year, not millions.
The figure is about 172 times the 11,628 NIBRS pet theft incidents for 2023. Underreporting is real, but no published study measures how large it is, so the gap cannot be closed with an estimate.
| Claim | Where it comes from | Method stated | Our verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 million pets stolen in the US each year | Last Chance for Animals website | None; called an estimate | Unsupported |
| AKC says 2 million dogs are stolen yearly | News and blog posts | None found | Not found in AKC material we opened |
| Dog theft rose sharply in the 2010s | AKC Reunite fact sheet | Reports from its own enrolled owners | True for that database only |
| Thousands of pet thefts reach police each year | FBI NIBRS via Kaplan tabulation | Police incident reports | Supported: 11,628 incidents in 2023 |
Does the FBI track stolen pets?
Yes, but only as one of 68 property categories. Since 2009, NIBRS has a Pets code, and in 2023 pets were the property stolen in 11,628 incidents, about 0.14% of all stolen property entries.
For scale, the same 2023 data list 163,339 incidents with firearms stolen and 132,699 with bicycles stolen. Pet theft sits next to musical instruments and medical equipment in frequency.
The FBI does not publish a pet theft table of its own, so the 2023 figures come from Kaplan's tabulation of the FBI's NIBRS file. His table also shows 1,490 entries of pets recovered by police.
Source: Jacob Kaplan, tabulation of FBI NIBRS data, Table 17.1, 2023. Incidents where at least one item of that type was stolen; agencies reporting to NIBRS only.
Show the numbers
| Label | incidents |
|---|---|
| Firearms | 163,339 |
| Bicycles | 132,699 |
| Medical equipment | 13,977 |
| Musical instruments | 12,467 |
| Pets | 11,628 |
| Farm equipment | 8,355 |
| Livestock | 2,275 |
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Livestock, the code used for commercially bred dogs, appeared in 2,275 theft incidents in 2023, though most of those will be farm animals.
How many stolen pets are recovered?
Few. Oklahoma police recovered 63 of 613 animal items reported stolen in 2024, a 10.3% recovery rate, and 7.6% of the $2,850,024 in stolen animal value.
Oklahoma's state report groups pets and livestock as Animals, so these figures include farm animals as well as dogs. Arkansas reports pets on their own: $340,587 of pets were stolen in 2025 and $27,355, or 8.03%, was recovered.
Recovery rates for animals were low in every Oklahoma year we checked: 9.1% of items in 2022, 7.9% in 2023 and 10.3% in 2024.
Source: Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, Selected Findings: Property Loss and Recovered, 2022, 2023 and 2024. Animals group includes pets and livestock.
Show the numbers
| Label | items |
|---|---|
| 2022 | 541 |
| 2023 | 697 |
| 2024 | 613 |
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| Year | Items stolen | Items recovered | Item recovery rate | Value stolen | Value recovered | Value recovery rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 541 | 49 | 9.1% | $1,402,283 | $63,758 | 4.5% |
| 2023 | 697 | 55 | 7.9% | $2,709,436 | $245,010 | 9.0% |
| 2024 | 613 | 63 | 10.3% | $2,850,024 | $215,352 | 7.6% |
Shelters are one place a stolen or dumped dog can surface; see our dog shelter adoption statistics and shelter euthanasia by state.
Is dog theft on the rise?
The only long run of dog theft counts we could find comes from the American Kennel Club's AKC Reunite database. Its count rose from 71 dogs in 2008 to 831 in 2015, nearly 12 times higher. That data is now over a decade old.
These counts cover only dogs enrolled in AKC Reunite whose owners reported them stolen, so growth in enrollment and awareness may explain part of the rise. The AKC fact sheet reported a 30% increase from 2014 to 2015. Its 2016 count stopped at 490 dogs as of September 26.
Its top stolen AKC breeds were the Yorkshire Terrier, Chihuahua, Bulldog, Pomeranian, Shih Tzu and German Shepherd Dog. Small, costly breeds feature, which fits police releases about stolen French Bulldogs, now the most popular US dog breed.
Source: American Kennel Club Reunite, National Pet Theft Database fact sheet, 2016. Enrolled dogs reported stolen by owners only; not a national count.
Show the numbers
| Label | dogs |
|---|---|
| 2008 | 71 |
| 2009 | 162 |
| 2010 | 255 |
| 2011 | 444 |
| 2012 | 458 |
| 2013 | 609 |
| 2014 | 637 |
| 2015 | 831 |
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We found no newer AKC table we could open, so we do not show later years.
How are dogs stolen?
Most thefts caught on video happen in plain view. In a 2024 study of theft videos by Stickle, Vose and Miller, 68% happened in broad daylight and over 60% in commercial settings.
The study, published in Deviant Behavior, found 66% of pet thieves were male, often working alone or in pairs. In residential front-yard thefts, 88% of the pets were visible from the street. The university's release does not give the number of videos analyzed.
Police releases show the violent end of the problem. In November 2023, Washington, DC police reported that a man with a taser demanded a woman's six-month-old French Bulldog at her building entrance and drove off with it.
Source: Stickle, Vose and Miller, Deviant Behavior, 2024, as reported by Middle Tennessee State University. Sample size not stated in the release.
Show the numbers
| Label | % |
|---|---|
| Front-yard pets visible from street | 88% |
| Theft in broad daylight | 68% |
| Thief is male | 66% |
| Commercial setting (over) | 60%+ |
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If someone else walks or boards your dog, ask how they handle leashes and gates; our dog walker, sitter and boarding costs report covers what those services charge. Busy dog parks are safer with your dog in sight.
Is stealing a dog a felony?
In most states it depends on the dog's value. In California, stealing a companion animal worth more than $950 is grand theft, and $950 or less is petty theft.
A few states have dog-specific laws. Oklahoma's 21 O.S. 1716(B) makes stealing any dog, sheep or goat a felony with 6 months to 3 years in prison. Mississippi makes dog theft a felony with up to two years in the penitentiary. New York punishes companion animal stealing with a fine up to $1,000, up to six months in jail, or both.
Virginia and Delaware state that dogs are personal property that can be the subject of larceny or theft, so ordinary theft penalties apply. Oklahoma does the same, and its felony law on stealing domestic animals also lists dogs. We read the statutes for the 6 states below in October 2026. The table is not a survey of every state.
| State | Statute | What it says | Penalty |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | Penal Code 487e, 487f | Companion animal theft graded by value | Over $950: grand theft; $950 or less: petty theft |
| California | Penal Code 487g | Taking any animal for sale, research, slaughter or other commercial use | County jail up to 1 year or state prison |
| Mississippi | Miss. Code 97-17-51 | Stealing any dog of another | Fine up to $500 and/or up to 6 months in jail, or 1 to 2 years in the penitentiary |
| New York | Agriculture and Markets Law 366 | Removing ID tags, seizing a leashed or tagged animal, taking one to kill or sell | Fine up to $1,000, up to 6 months in jail, or both |
| Virginia | Code 3.2-6585 | Dogs and cats are personal property subject to larceny; officers may seize a stolen dog | General larceny penalties; owner gets dog back if no court action within 7 days |
| Delaware | 16 Del.C. 3050F | Dogs are personal property subject to theft | General theft penalties; anyone confining another's dog must notify the state within 24 hours |
| Oklahoma | 21 O.S. 1716(B), 1717, 1718 | Dogs are personal property; taking one by fraud or stealth is larceny; stealing any dog is also a listed felony | Larceny penalties, or under 1716(B) a felony with 6 months to 3 years in prison and/or a fine up to 3 times the dog's value |
Federal law first addressed pet theft for research. The Laboratory Animal Welfare Act of 1966 (Public Law 89-544) began as a response to pets stolen and sold to laboratories, the Library of Congress notes.
State dog laws vary in other ways too. Compare breed-specific laws by state, pet custody laws in divorce and puppy mill and pet store bans, which shape where puppies are sold.
Is my missing dog lost or stolen?
Most missing dogs are lost, not stolen, and most come home. A 2010 national survey reached 1,015 households that had owned a dog or cat in the past five years. In it, 14% of dogs had been lost and 93% of those were found.
Searching the neighborhood found 49% of the recovered dogs, and 20% came home on their own. Only 15% were found because of an ID tag or microchip, and only 24% of the lost dogs had a microchip.
If you believe your dog was stolen, AKC Reunite advises filing a police report. Ask police to post the microchip number and a description in the stolen article file of the National Crime Information Center. A report is also what puts the theft into the police data above.
Source: Weiss, Slater and Lord, Animals, 2012; national phone survey of 1,015 households, September to November 2010. Share of recovered dogs by main method.
Show the numbers
| Label | % |
|---|---|
| Searched neighborhood | 49% |
| Returned on its own | 20% |
| ID tag or microchip | 15% |
| Neighbor brought it home | 7% |
| Animal control | 6% |
| Other | 4% |
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- File a police report and keep the report number.
- Give police the microchip number for the NCIC stolen article file, as AKC Reunite advises.
- Search the neighborhood and visit local shelters and animal control.
- Do not buy a dog from roadside sellers, flea markets or online ads you cannot verify.
Some pet policies add theft or lost pet cover; see pet insurance statistics. For more US data reports, start at dogeats.in US.
Frequently asked questions
How many dogs are stolen each year in the US?
No one counts stolen dogs nationally. FBI NIBRS data for 2023 show 11,628 incidents in which a pet of any species was stolen, among agencies that report to NIBRS.
Is it true that 2 million pets are stolen every year?
There is no evidence for it. The figure comes from Last Chance for Animals, which calls it an estimate and gives no method. It is about 172 times the 11,628 pet theft incidents in 2023 NIBRS data.
Does the FBI track pet theft?
Partly. NIBRS has a Pets property code (73) since 2009 and a Livestock code (18) that covers dogs bred for sale. The FBI does not publish a pet theft table of its own.
How many stolen dogs are recovered?
Few. Oklahoma recovered 63 of 613 animal items stolen in 2024 (10.3%), and Arkansas recovered 8.03% of the value of pets stolen in 2025.
Is stealing a dog a felony?
It depends on the state and the dog's value. In California a companion animal worth over $950 is grand theft. Mississippi and Oklahoma make stealing any dog a felony, with up to 2 years in Mississippi and up to 3 years in Oklahoma.
What dog breeds are stolen most?
AKC Reunite's top stolen AKC breeds were the Yorkshire Terrier, Chihuahua, Bulldog, Pomeranian, Shih Tzu and German Shepherd Dog in its 2016 fact sheet.
Is dog theft increasing?
AKC Reunite's reports rose from 71 dogs in 2008 to 831 in 2015, but that covers only its enrolled dogs and is over a decade old. No current national trend data exist.
What should I do if my dog is stolen?
File a police report and give police the microchip number for the NCIC stolen article file. In a 2010 survey, 15% of recovered lost dogs were found through a tag or microchip.
Methodology and limitations
We looked for a national count of stolen dogs and found none. We traced the 2 million claim to Last Chance for Animals and looked for an AKC or government source behind it; we found none.
For national police data we used the NIBRS property codes in the FBI's 2023.0 NIBRS User Manual. Counts come from Jacob Kaplan's tabulation of 2023 NIBRS property data (Table 17.1 of his guide to FBI UCR data). For state data we used Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation property loss reports for 2022 to 2024 and the Arkansas Crime Information Center value table for 2025.
We read statute text for California, Mississippi, New York, Virginia, Delaware and Oklahoma in October 2026, from legislature sites, public.law or the Animal Legal and Historical Center. Video study figures come from the Middle Tennessee State University release on Stickle, Vose and Miller (2024); lost dog figures from Weiss, Slater and Lord (2012).
Sources
- Jacob Kaplan, Decisions Made, Decisions Missed: A Guide to FBI UCR Data, ch. 17 Property Segment (2023 NIBRS data), Pet, livestock and other stolen property incident counts, 2023
- Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, Selected Findings: Property Loss and Recovered, 2024, Animal items and value stolen and recovered; 2022 and 2023 editions also used
- FBI CJIS Division, 2023.0 NIBRS User Manual (copy hosted by Texas DPS), Property codes 73 Pets and 18 Livestock
- Also consulted: Arkansas Crime Information Center, Value of Property Stolen and Recovered, State: 2025, American Kennel Club Reunite, National Pet Theft Database Facts and Stats, 2016, Last Chance for Animals, Pet Theft campaign page, Weiss E, Slater M, Lord L. Frequency of Lost Dogs and Cats in the United States and the Methods Used to Locate Them. Animals, 2012, Middle Tennessee State University, release on Stickle, Vose and Miller, Deviant Behavior, 2024, Animal Legal and Historical Center, Miss. Code 97-17-51 (last checked October 2026), Oklahoma Legislature, HB 3429 (2022), amending 21 O.S. 1716; 21 O.S. 1717 and 1718 from the Oklahoma Statutes Title 21 compilation, New York State Senate, Agriculture and Markets Law 366, California Penal Code 487e, 487f, 487g (via public.law), Code of Virginia 3.2-6585, Delaware Code, Title 16, 3050F, Metropolitan Police Department, Washington, DC, release, November 2023, Library of Congress, In Custodia Legis, The Animal Welfare Act Grants Protection to Pets and More, 2022, Animal Legal and Historical Center statute pages for Delaware and Virginia, Europe PMC full text of Weiss et al. 2012, Crossref record for Stickle, Vose and Miller 2024.
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