
CRIME Watch sites on BBM and other social media recently carried a piece on signs left by criminals outside houses to indicate the level of resistance that could be expected in a burglary.
While many people were overawed by this revelation others commented that similar stories had been doing the rounds for years and that most of them emanated from the United States judging by the terminology used. In South Africa we do not call soft drinks soda, for example.
A search of Snopes.com, a website which exposes urban legends and scams, revealed that it was indeed true that this urban legend had been around for about ten years and all that had changed were the objects used to identify different occupants.
Urban legends make their way around the world in a regular cycle and in each rotation become a little more flamboyant, or alter slightly to fit the situation. Most people will remember the story of the woman who walked naked through a shopping mall after being attacked in the ladies toilets and all her clothes stolen.
Most of us bought that one, but it was nothing more than urban legend given a twist by adding a local shopping mall. The same applies to the man who had his arm amputated in a lift in a shopping mall.
That too was mischief-making that upset people and caused fear. It can be supposed that these stories are a form of low grade intimidation because that is the purpose of some urban legends – to cause fear.
In the BBM warnings, one of the items used as a marker was takeaway food packaging. It was stated that red chicken boxes were an indication that the householders were armed or dangerous, or something along those lines.
But it has since been discovered that fast food packets left on verges have a far more sinister meaning.
They are not some code left by a friendly neighbourhood crook sharing information with his fellow criminals. They are not a heads-up for the mates.
A Westville family were asked by the men who terrorised them in their home if they had noticed the packets and boxes on their verge on numerous occasions over the past weeks.
In a boastful way they informed the terrified family that they had been feeding the dogs with takeaway food for weeks so that the animals would associate them with tasty treats and not bark or attack them when they invaded the home.
No, this is not an urban legend or a scam. This piece of information was from the horse’s mouth.
Don’t ignore the warning signs. Constant litter outside your house could be a very loud warning that your dogs are being coaxed into being stranger friendly. The best place for your dogs at night is in the house, for your safety and theirs.