Joliet animal shelter pleads for thief to return sick puppy

JOLIET, Ill. (WLS) -- A search is underway for a puppy thief who may have targeted a designer breed at a Joliet animal shelter, not realizing the sick dog needs special care.

The puppy, which needs medicine for an upper respiratory infection, was stolen in the middle of the day while there were people in the next room.

The shih tzu-poodle mix is less than eight weeks old and hadn't even been named yet. It was stolen Monday from Hopeful Tails Animal Rescue, a Joliet non-profit where volunteers come and go all day. Her caretakers say they are stunned.

"Unbelievable. Shocking. I don't know what else to say about it. None of us can believe it happened," said Chris Ulreich, Hopeful Tails Animal Rescue.

Workers were in a different part of the building caring for other canines when one or more thieves entered around midday and snatched the puppy from its cage in a back room, ignoring several other dogs.

"It's a designer dog, I guess, they call it. So it is worth about $800 on the market, from what we're told," said Dep. Chief Alan Roechner, Joliet Police Dept.

"It does seem that someone had knowledge of this dog, our building, our layout, something. It doesn't appear to be completely random," Ulreich said.

The dog's health is an additional concern because it has an upper respiratory infection that requires medication.

This type of crime is hardly new. Last year, a woman was charged after cameras captured her at Petland in Naperville, putting a dog in her purse and walking out of the store. The same business was hit again months later when a man simply left with a dog in hand.

And it's happened in Joliet before. A was man seen on video walking out with a dog under his jacket in January 2013. In many cases, dogs have been returned.

"Our message to whoever's got that dog is to please bring it back. We are not concerned about pressing charges. We are not concerned about what happened. What we are concerned about is that dog's health," Ulreich said.

The shelter does not have surveillance cameras, but a witness who was in the parking lot told shelter officials that two men - of vague description - were seen leaving with the dog and getting into a car possibly containing two more men. The witness thought they had adopted the dog.