You Ask. We Investigate
Dognapped: Pet owners beware, crooks targeting pooches in backyards
Reporter: Marcelino Benito
TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) -Modern day Cruella de Vil's are snatching dogs right out of their backyards. A 9OYS viewer reached out to us after it happened to her.
A nice big yard is empty. Food and water bowls haven't been touched for weeks. The dog that used to fro-lick in all of this is gone.
"It feels like one of my kids is gone," said Denise Montanez. "I feel really lost."
Montanez says her 4-year-old English Bulldog, "Fat Boy", who she's had since he was 4 months old, was stolen, snatched out of a locked up backyard. Whoever did it, got him up and over the fence. The dog hairs the crooks left behind still visible.
"Do you feel violated?" asked 9OYS reporter Marcelino Benito. "Of course, they came into my space and took a piece of me," replied Montanez.
She filed a police report and flyered the neighborhood near Bilby and 12th.
"Everybody knows Fat Boy, everybody loves him," said Montanez. "I'm hoping somebody saw something."
Just a day later, two other dogs disappeared from a yard just a block away. The American Kennel Club tells KGUN9 dognapping is on the rise. In 2010, 255 dogs were stolen. Two years later by 2012, that jumped to 458. Fat Boy one of the latest victims.
"Why would anyone want to steal your dog?" asked Benito. "Well, I know English Bulldogs are real popular, he's an expensive dog."
Together Montanez and her family has scoured to get him back.
"I look everyday in yards, in cars," she said.
But that search so far has turned up empty. Montanez says she's not giving up hope and wants the people stealing dogs to hear her cry.
"I just want him back, I don't have any hard feelings for whoever took him as long as they just return him to me," said Montanez.
If you've seen Fat Boy or know who may be involved with these dognappings, be sure to call Tucson Police.
The Humane Society tells KGUN 9 there are things pet owners can do to prevent this from happening. They say never leave your dog unattended when its outside. And if possible, get your dog micro-chipped. That way in case your dog is stolen, it may be easier to find.
A copy of Fat Boy's flyer is attached under Related Documents on this story.
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