Dog act sparks fears for staffy owners

A MICROCHIP has left a dog thief red-faced when he tried to register a two-year-old's stolen blue staffy under his own name.

Xzavia Wilson's puppy Mazee went missing from his south-west home on May 24.

When his family feared the worst for their furry friend's fate, they received a phone call two week's later to say their dog was at a Gold Coast vet after a man tried to have her re-microchipped.

The vet scanned the rare blue English Staffordshire Terrier revealing her owner's details and the man fled.

Kylie Pearson, from Inala, bought the staffy named Mazee as a Christmas present for her nephew Xzavia.

She said her family feared the staffy was stolen to be used in rumoured underground dog fighting arenas.

"Blue staffies are worth anywhere between $1800 and $2500," Ms Pearson said.

"Their colour is really rare as well and it is hard to get the blue, so we think that might be why she was taken.

"Plus there are also dog fights which people steal them for."

Ms Pearson said she felt sick the entire time Mazee was gone, but it wasn't the first time one of her pets had gone missing.

"Thank God for microchips," she said.

"We had a staffy go missing once before but we never got him back."

The Pearsons believe Mazee was taken from their front yard after their neighbour spotted their two dogs digging under the fence.

RSPCA spokesman Michael Beattie said staffies were known to be "the best escape artists".

"Staffies tend to go missing more than other breeds," Mr Beattie said.

"They are people friendly and when left alone, they will try and get out to socialise.

"We get a lot of calls about staffies in our lost and found department, but it is hard to generalise whether stolen staffies are being used in dog fights."

Xzavia said he was happy to have his puppy home.