OAKLAND (KRON) — A family in the East Bay is desperate to find their missing dog, and they’re trying to swallow the likelihood that he was stolen right out of their car.
It happened right outside the popular Mexican restaurant Guadalajara on Fruitvale Avenue and San Leandro Street.
Melissa Smith’s dog Biscuit is a purebred Yorkshire Terrier, and she thinks a man dognapped Biscuit for a breeding operation.
Biscuit and the Smiths’ other dog Buttercup were in the car with the windows cracked while Melissa and her mother had lunch at Guadalajara restaurant.
When they first came out, Melissa saw Buttercup and didn’t realize anything was wrong.
“My windows were not broken out,” Smith said. “There was no indication that anybody had gotten into my car.”
But later, she noticed she hadn’t seen Biscuit, and he was nowhere to be found –not in the car, not in the parking lot, and not at home.
So, she explained what happened to the manager at Guadalajara, who let her review security tapes.
That’s when they spotted a man get out of a yellow truck and stand around Melissa’s car for a good 15 minutes.
“You can see that he was fondling with the door,” Smith said. “And I think that he had like a long object that could unlock the inside of the car.”
Though it’s difficult to tell, Melissa says it looks like the man has something under his arm as he walks away.
The Smiths have reported the case to Oakland police and have made their own flyers and online posts.
Though they know a stolen dog isn’t a high priority case for a busy Oakland Police Department, they’re hoping other people who love their own pets as much as they do will understand why this is so devastating to them.
“A part of me is missing,” Smith said. “A part of me is really missing. My whole house is quiet; it’s unusually quiet. The boys, my two sons, they’re doing a little bit better, but we all just miss Biscuit, and we think about him all the time.”
The Smiths have also checked local shelters but without luck.
Melissa says she thinks the man would have taken Buttercup too, except that she is a little louder and slightly more aggressive than Biscuit.WHAT OTHERS ARE CLICKING ON:
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