Hi Avery,
I Heard a real bad story about a low down scum dog which broke into another dogs kennel at night while the owners were asleep, however although it was a dog kennel it was also home to 2 snakes which killed the dog instantly!.
There is crime everywhere in the world!- just make it as hard for them to ply their trade, out of away places can be bad but there are just as venerable as estates if you make it easy for them, do your research of the area you are thinking of buying into ask questions look in the papers, ask the neighbor of ex-pats in the local ex-pats bars,research,research,research,research!!!
See you again