Watch above: A recent spate of suspicious activity surrounding Saskatoon homes with dogs has sparked a social media campaign. Carly Robinson takes a look at whether the practice is a help or a hindrance to police.
SASKATOON – The administrators of a Facebook group looking to spread the message about potential dog thieves in the Saskatoon area are realizing just how powerful social media can be.
“It’s a little overwhelming with how big this has gotten and how quick,” says administrator Amanda, who wants to keep her last name private for safety reasons.
“Anything we put on there, people are taking it to the max.”
On April 15 and 17, a homeowner on Beckett Crescent says they saw people near their home acting suspiciously and calling their two dogs, leaving when they were noticed. There were suspicious chalk marks on their fence.
These markings were talked about on the group as a potential marking for targeted dogs for thefts, causing other pet owners to go out looking for similar markings on their fence. Two other homeowners in the east and northwest divisions later reported chalk marks on their fence to Saskatoon police.
“We are trying to tell everybody it could be a hoax, we don’t know.” She herself has seen some youth marking her fence after seeing her posts on Facebook, allegedly trying to scare her.
READ MORE: Saskatoon area man has a dog stolen – for a third time
Through the chatter on the group, there were only three calls to police regarding potential thefts.
“Social media is a great resource for information,” says Saskatoon police spokesperson Alyson Edwards, “but if people are on there and they are reporting second or third or even fourth hand information, it tends to grow bigger than it really is.”
“What we encourage people to do is, yes feel free to use this information via social media, but make that information known to us. And make sure that if you reported it, it’s actually happened to you.”
This is something the Facebook group does recommend, however Amanda says several people tell her they don’t believe authorities will care. “We want everyone to know they are on our side as well, they are not going to tell you it doesn’t matter.”
Comments