posted 09-16-2003 02:30 AM         

How Much Is Your Dog Worth To You?

We hear in the news that a man from Denmark refused to pay a ransom of £6,000 for the return of his pet Beagle who was kidnapped by unscrupulous dog-thieves.

The owner, who decided to remain anonymous claims he is not interested in paying the ransom as the dog, named Skipper, is ‘too old’. He declared; “The dog is so old, that who knows how long we'll have him for after the payment."

When reading this story, two things sprang to mind.

How can anyone put a financial value on the love of a pet? And what would I do in similar circumstances?

After all, if someone did decide to steal one of my dogs and I received ‘the call’ what on earth would I do? Would I be straight to the bank to get the money? What if I could not afford the ransom? Would I sell the car? Re-mortgage the house? At what price would I baulk?

If I was asked for say, £5k would I pay it but refuse to meet £6k? What would be the consequences for my dog if I did not? Could I live with them?

As is very often the case with such horrible incidents as this, they do provoke a trail of thought.

So what do you think? How much would you be prepared to pay if you ever did recieve such a phonecall?

posted 09-17-2003 06:14 PM         

But my dogs are so defensive when it comes to strangers they would have a hard time trying to steel my dogs.