THE thefts of thousands of animals may not seem the most shocking crimes in the world but the sheer number and range is a surprise.

As we report today, in five years there were more than 2,400 reports of animal thefts. And they ranged right across the animal kingdom from fish, to livestock, to swans, dogs, cats and even bees, a scorpion and a tarantula.

Now let’s hope the last three inflicted a heavy price on the thieves at least, but there is a serious point here.

Some people will consider even a cursory investigation to be beneath our stretched police force. And naturally no one would expect the loss of a single domesticated animal to be prioritised above robberies, serious assaults and fatal traffic accidents.

But ultimately there were four reported thefts of animals every three days during that five-year period.

The more startling statistic was that of those 2,432 thefts, only 65 animals were ever returned home. That is just two per cent.

Now, perhaps there was not a lot of heartbreak over the 759 pheasants because the loss there was clearly a financial rather than emotional one.

But we Brits are a nation of animal lovers and there would have been a lot of genuine heartache around these thefts.

Pets – whether they are dogs, cats, rabbits or whatever – are part of the family. Their losses will have been genuinely mourned.

So it may not seem like these were the worst crimes in the world but they did count.