Police are on the lookout for a couple suspected of pocketing a purebred �pocket dog� from the Thurston County animal shelter on March 15, 2006. The couple, a young man and woman who shelter workers say seemed intent on getting a tiny dog, are suspected of stealing 11-pound Baxter, a miniature pinscher who belongs to one of the shelter's employees. Heather Leu, who has owned Baxter for nine years since he was a puppy and she was 16, said she was panic-stricken when she discovered her dog was missing. �He's like my second kid,� said Leu, who has a 7-year-old son. �He's older than my kid.�
People working the shelter's front desk that afternoon said the couple came in about 3 p.m. and told shelter workers they needed a pocket dog by 5 p.m. They didn't care what breed it was; it just had to be small. �They were eyeing a miniature schnauzer. I said, �No, that belongs to someone,' � said Wilma Lisk, a volunteer at the shelter. The couple was persistent. When Lisk told them the shelter didn't have any small dogs seeking homes, they asked her to call another pet adoption agency or look one up on the Internet. She said she couldn't, and then they asked about the dogs behind the front counter, where staff members keep their own pets while they work. They asked about Baxter specifically: how old he was, and how long he would live.
�They were unusually anxious,� Lisk said. �He mentioned more than one or two times that he'd like to come behind the counter and pet the dogs.� She told the man no. The shelter was busy, and Lisk turned to work on something else. When she turned back again, the couple was gone. So was Baxter. �It was a matter of a minute or two,� Lisk said. �It's unfortunate. It's just sad for the owner.� Baxter's owner said she's heartbroken. �He's with me basically 24 hours a day,� Leu said. Leu, who has seizures, is so close with the dog that it can alert her husband when she starts to act strangely, as she might right before having a seizure. Baxter is losing his hair and needs daily medication for pain in his legs.
Police are looking for the couple, whom witnesses described as in their early 20s. The woman was about 5 feet 6 inches tall, 110 pounds and wearing a skirt; the man was about 5 feet 7 inches tall, 150 pounds and wearing baggy jeans. �They looked like normal people. In fact, the young lady was fairly attractive, tall, slim and well-dressed,� said Lisk, the volunteer. Surveillance photos from the shelter's parking lot show a car that seems to be a mid-size sedan, such as a Dodge Stratus or Chevrolet Cavalier, according to police spokesman Dick Machlan. In the photos, the car appears to be missing its hubcaps. �We really don't have any solid leads,� Machlan said. �What we need is some help from the public. ... The dog does have a microchip, so he's identifiable, and he's of a fairly unusual breed.�
Demand for pocket dogs is very high lately, shelter workers said. They often have more requests for tiny dogs than they have dogs available, but this is the first theft they've had. Police said it's the first small-dog theft they've heard of in Olympia. �I'd suspect the people went there with the idea of trying to locate a pound dog, and they just had the opportunity to find one this way,� Machlan said.
Anyone with information on the theft of a miniature pinscher from Thurston County Animal Services is asked to call the Crime Stoppers anonymous tip line at 360-493-2222 or the Olympia detectives bureau at 360-753-8300. Heather Leu, the dog's owner, is asking anyone with information to call her directly at 360-239-3922. She has posted fliers and is offering a reward for the dog's return. The dog also can be returned anonymously to the drop-off kennels behind the shelter, 3120 Martin Way E., Olympia. Case UpdatesBaxter, the miniature pinscher stolen from the Thurston County animal shelter, was found dead on the lawn of a Lakewood apartment complex March 29, 2006. The dog's last days remain a mystery to its owner, Heather Leu. All Leu knows is that a woman who happened to be passing by the complex saw Baxter dead on the grass, picked the dog up and took it to a veterinarian.
Baxter's microchip helped the vet track Leu down. She does not know how the dog died, but there were no signs it had been abused or purposely killed, she said. The 11-pound pocket dog disappeared two weeks ago from the shelter where Leu works after a couple came in anxiously seeking a small dog. The couple, both slender and in their early 20s, said they needed a tiny dog by the end of the afternoon. They asked about Baxter, who was behind the front counter, where employees keep their own pets while they work. They asked how old he was, and how long he would live. The nine-year-old dog had some medical problems, including hair loss and leg pain, which Leu was treating with medication.
Leu said she's devastated to find out that her dog died. So is her 7-year-old son, who grew up around Baxter. �It's the dog he's had his whole life, and now lost,� Leu said. Police have no leads. Lakewood police said that they hadn't heard the stolen dog was found there. They probably wouldn't investigate the dog's death as a crime, they said, but would investigate the possession of the stolen dog. �If there's no outward signs of abuse, and the dog was old; unless you had a telltale sign of the dog being killed, we probably wouldn't,� Lakewood Patrol Lt. Bret Farrar said. �If we had evidence that somebody had possession of stolen property, we would pursue it.� Olympia police have been investigating the theft of the dog, but think it will be difficult to track the thieves now, when the dog was found abandoned two days ago. �Just because it was found in front of an apartment complex doesn't mean that a resident was involved,� Olympia Police Cmdr. Tor Bjornstad said. It took a while for Leu to hear that her dog had been found, because the veterinarian had to call the microchip company to get her information, she said. | Source: The Olympian - April 1, 2006
Update posted on May 7, 2006 - 5:10AM |
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