Car stolen in Austin with dog inside

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The owners of a 2-year-old Pomeranian named Chubbs are desperate to get their dog back after their car was stolen in Chicago's Austin neighborhood with the canine inside.

"I think I still have not come to terms that he's actually gone or that he was taken. But I believe he's going to come back. I know it. There's going to be somebody out there who's going to see this," said his owner Nicole Martin.

Martin and her mother Jillian Savino are worried sick about Chubbs. Around midday Friday Savino said she went to pick up granite samples for a new kitchen from a stone contractor in the 4800-block of West Division Street and pulled into an alley near the delivery door.

She said the noise from the business was startling to Chubbs, so she left him inside the black 2009 Honda CRV, and left the engine running with the air on as she walked to the door.

"When I turned around I heard him bark, and I heard a car beep. And I stepped back, and I looked, and the car was gone," she said.

The family is now offering a $1,000 reward. They said Chubbs is a rescue dog who's had a life of tough luck.

"He was not treated good to begin with from his previous owners. He has a broken right leg," Martin said. "He's been through a lot already."

If you have any information about Chubbs whereabouts, email his owner at MartinNicole1212@yahoo.com.