Take extra caution with your pet, because dog-napping cases have risen nationwide by almost 70 percent! And the news is not good for what’s to come in the new year.

Pets are being stolen out of cars, yards and off sidewalks at an alarming rate, according to the American Kennel Club. And for the first time ever (that it’s been documented, anyway), shelters are being broken into and purebred and mixed breed dogs are being stolen.

Experts say to ‘safeguard your dog as you would a child’ and the AKC recommends the first thing you shoud do right away is get your pet microchipped.

And if you are running errands, experts advise keeping your pets home to stop making things so easy for a new breed of criminals.

Read more about the dognappings from CBS New York.

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