Puppy Returned After Being Stolen From Long Island Pet Store
HUNTINGTON STATION, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) - Cloud is back where he belongs, safe and sound.
A woman was caught on video stealing the pricey pup from a Suffolk County pet store.
Suffolk County Police say a woman walked into Petite Pets on New York Avenue in Huntington Station and plucked the pooch.
Surveillance video captures the woman picking up a Malshipoo puppy and tucking it into her bag Thursday afternoon. The video shows the woman in the store, picking up the dog from his crib, kissing him, and then placing the pup in her bag. She then walks out the door.
Cloud weighs about two pounds and is 3 and a half months old.
"I mean, I'm heartbroken. I'm completely heartbroken," Lisa Caiazzo, the manager of Petite Pets, told CBS2's Scott Rapoport. "He was so special because she was so tiny. You know he was so precious, baby Cloud."
Despite the brazen theft, store employees say they didn't notice anything until after the woman left, when they noticed Cloud's crib was empty.
The pilfered pup was pricey: Employees told Rapoport that Cloud was worth $2,600.
"She doesn't know how to care for him," Caiazzo said. "And he... will become glycemic, meaning low blood sugar. And if she doesn't realize it, he could die."
After CBS2's story about the stolen puppy aired Friday, the suspect apparently had a change of heart. The pet store told Rapoport they got a phone call from the woman in the video who took Cloud, saying she was sorry and wanted to return him, as long as she didn't get in trouble.
The store agreed not to call the police.
Cloud was back safely in the arms of the store manager Friday afternoon.