Minneapolis man fills fake packages with his golden retriever's poop to get back at porch pirates

A Minnesota man frustrated by thieves taking packages from his porch responded by baiting them into stealing his golden retriever’s feces.

Chuck Freiberg has successfully duped thieves into stealing as many as 20 boxes containing his dog’s excrement by leaving them on his porch under the ruse they are valuable deliveries. 

He has also suffered the loss of two genuine packages, but says his foul prank on the thieves makes him feel better about his losses.

‘I thought that I would do what came naturally. Reduce, recycle and reuse my dog’s feces,’ Freiberg said. 

Residents of south Minneapolis are just one group of Americans that are becoming increasingly fed up with the theft of their packages by so-called ‘porch pirates’. 

‘If America was to take this epidemic into their own hands, we can move the needle on porch pirates,’ Freiberg added. 

With the coronavirus pandemic and a boom in internet shopping came a spike in the number of packages that were being left on porches across the county. That in turn attracted thieves. 

Chick Freiberg (pictured) has tricked thieves into stealing as many as 20 packages containing his dog’s feces

One Minneapolis resident said she thought the thieves were even following delivery vehicles and watching deliveries as they were being made

Freiberg (whose dog is pictured) said: ‘If America was to take this epidemic into their own hands, we can move the needle on porch pirates’

Jettie Ann, another Minneapolis resident exhausted by the pirates, has recorded the brazen thieves taking from her porch numerous times – day and night. She had three parcels stolen in just two weeks this month.

Ann once even had a package stolen within 10 minutes of its delivery and told CBS News that she thought the thieves may even be tailing the delivery driver.

‘I do think it was probably someone scouting the neighborhood, even following the truck,’ she said. 

‘Even receiving a reimbursement, I’m like just violated,’ Ann said. ‘Is somebody watching me? This has just never been a problem.’ 

A rise in porch piracy coincided with the coronavirus pandemic and an increase in internet shopping

Jettie Ann, who has had several packages stolen this month, said it feels like a violation

Freiberg suggested to the network that he viewed porch piracy as a national issue.

In the past three years eight states have passed legislation to protect residents against porch piracy, according to the Guardian.

Federal law already considers the theft of mail and packages delivered by the US Postal Service to be a felony.

New legislation seeks to expand that statute to include private carriers like UPS, DHL and Amazon. 

In the past three years eight states have passed legislation to protect residents against porch piracy

Federal laws mean that stealing items delivered by the US Postal Service is considered a felony. The new laws extend that principal to items delivered by UPS, DHL and Amazon

The laws in those states – including Texas, Michigan, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Georgia, Kentucky and New Jersey – have been the efforts of both Republicans and Democrats.

Earlier this year in Texas, a woman deployed a similar strategy to Freiburg by leaving her child’s soiled diapers in fake packages.

However, those thieves took revenge by coming back to smear those diapers over her front door, car and driveway.