6 puppies stolen from yard - Hopewell, VA

Sunday, Nov 14, 2010

County: Prince George

Disposition: Alleged

Abuser names unreleased

Police are searching for six pit bull puppies stolen from a man's backyard in broad daylight on Sunday. The thieves only left behind one puppy, the runt.

"Mighty weird somebody just leaves the runt and takes all of them except for this one," said Chris Raymer, owner of the dogs.

Raymer, who is unemployed, was planning on selling the litter of puppies and using the money to pay bills and buy Thanksgiving dinner for his family.

The dogs could sell for $400 each.

Neighbors say while they're surprised the puppies were stolen, thefts from the area aren't new.

"From what it looks like, nobody can have anything in their yards or front yards because recently people are just taking anything that they could take out of here," said Elizabeth Estia, Raymer's neighbor. Hopewell Police are investigating the theft of the 13 week old puppies, and both they and Raymer hope someone will come forward with information.

"It's kind of pathetic," said Raymer. "Somebody come over here in broad day light and just come out and take them."

Animal Control Officers say the best case scenario for the dogs' fate would be if they were stolen to be sold for cash, but others are still concerned about the puppies' well being.

"You would hope somebody's going to take care of them, you know, not go fight them or stuff like that, but you just don't know," said Thomas Armstrong, Raymer's Neighbor.

"There are a lot of options that could happen, but obviously material gain is one of the things they are looking at, which is to sell the animals," said Mark Wachner of Richmond Animal Care and Control. "Will they fight them? It's a possibility."

Wachner say that anytime you go to buy an animal, you need to ask lots of questions.

"If they tend to hide things from you - I don't want you to see mom, I don't want you to see dad, I don't want you to see where they're kept, walk away," said Wachner. "Go away."

References

• wtvr.com - Nov 15, 2010

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