Caught On Camera: French Bulldog Puppy Stolen In Broad Daylight
TUESDAY, APRIL 30, UPDATE: The owner of the frenchie, Jaclyn Campbell, said her dog Kemba was returned.
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SOUTH SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A Sacramento woman is making a plea for the return of her stolen puppy. It was a brazen theft that happened in broad daylight in front of witnesses.
"Please give her back. Please do the right thing and have a heart," said Jaclyn Campbell.
The incident happened on 55th Street where the five-month-old puppy fell into the wrong hands.
Campbell is pleading with the man who took her beloved French Bulldog, Kemba. Campbell was at her boyfriend's house Friday morning when the dog escaped and started wandering the neighborhood.
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A neighbor's security camera footage shows the dog following a postal worker when a man pulls up in a car to ask if the dog is hers.
The postal worker didn't want to be on camera, but told us the man offered to help when he learned the dog was stray.
After a brief chat, the postal worker says she told the man he could take the dog around the corner to her house where her aunt would be waiting to look after it, so the man took off with Kemba in his arms.
"And my aunt called like 15 minutes later and said, 'It's hot out here, I'm tired of waiting. He never came by,'" said the postal worker.
Kemba apparently fell into the hands of a thief.
"The fact that he didn't even go there or try tells me a lot as well, like it was intentional," said Campbell.
"I think it's cruel if you ask me," said neighbor Richard Smith.
"I consider her like a daughter. She's really a family member, so I feel like my child has been kidnapped," said Campbell.
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Campbell said her family is devastated, and she has devoted every waking moment to finding little Kemba.
"I've put everything to the side. I'm not working right now and just really seriously trying to find her at any cost. Searching Craigslist all hours in all cities for dogs that are being sold," Campbell said.
She said Kemba is valued at about $5,000, but said the monetary costs pales in comparission to the emotional cost her pilfered pup has has on her family, especially her young son.
"It's his best friend. He's three and a half and he's been asking about her all the time. And you know, that makes it really difficult," Campbell said.
Campbell says it pains her to see the security footage of someone taking away her family member, and she's pleading with the apparent thief to have heart.
"If you would just give her back, or turn her in to a shelter. It would mean the world to our family," Campbell said.
Campbell is offering a $1,500 reward for her dog.