Stealing dogs is back in the headlines at the moment, as police have concluded the case in which a man in Zhenjiang was actively engaged in profiteering from the sale of stolen dogs, many of which he had shot with poisoned darts.
On 25 November, police in Danyang, the county-level city under the jurisdiction of Zhenjiang City in Jiangsu, announced the case in which a man from Hubei Province, surnamed Wang, was caught by traffic police for driving a car with a fake licence plate.
The case dates back to the end of July this year, when police from the PSB’s Road Traffic Order Squad with Danyang’s Traffic Police discovered something unusual about a small Chevrolet car sporting a Hubei plate. After comparison and surveillance, officer Feng Wei of the Squad led his team on 8 August to apprehend the owner where the car was normally parked.
Since it had a real licence plate when it was seized, the owner Wang refused to admit that he had used the fake plate. But police inspected the vehicle in accordance with the law and unexpectedly discovered a strong stench therein, while there were many dog hairs and poisonous-needle accessories in the car.
Officer Feng initially and instinctively judged that Wang would also be found suspected of other criminal acts, as the Yangtze Evening News reports.
Police went on to find an apartment rented by Wang in Dantu District of Zhenjiang. From there, they also seized poisonous needles and various other items that they believed Wang had used in his illegal dog trade.
But they also discovered two magnetic fake-licence plates.
Faced with the evidence, Wang confessed that he had purchased the items with the intent to poison, steal and kill dogs in early July. In the middle of that month, he went to Lucheng Town, Situ Town and other places in Danyang City three times to steal dogs after first shooting them with poisoned darts.
“I have been punished for stealing dogs before. But recently, I have been short of money, so I wanted to risk it again to return to my old business”, Wang said in his confession. “This time, I used a fake licence plate and deliberately chose a remote place to rent a car. My agent handles dog meat and we spent tens of thousands on preparations, but I never expected it to be exposed so quickly.”
