Last Thursday's STAR lead showed a new level of strangeness among Jamaican people - kidnapping a dog.

This is not the United States. People have nothing better to do with their time? How about finding a job? That would have been much more productive, but to take advantage of people's sense of humanity and love for their pet is ridiculous.

These dog thieves are not even sensible at that. As reported, a suspicious person was seen in the same neighbourhood from which the dog was stolen, parading on the streets with a similar dog for sale. People don't just buy dogs off the streets, much less for $7,000. If you're going to kidnap a dog, at least have the courtesy to keep it clean; the woman's pet was returned covered in filth.

Some people may think the woman was silly for paying a $5,000 ransom for her pet shih-tzu, but we can understand her situation. People get very attached to their pets, they become a part of the family, a form of stress relief and a companion to most.

Some breeds are also very valuable. The thieves should have thought of breeding dogs for sale, depending on the breed, they could easily make $10,000 per puppy. We warn all dog owners to beware. Keep your pets inside, they are used to guard us but sometimes we need to watch their backs as well.