Mounties were called Thursday morning to the Penticton branch of the B.C. SPCA after one of 14 new four-legged arrivals was dognapped.
Cooper, a one-year-old male Carlin Pinscher, was taken from his kennel during the overnight period.
“We’re just obviously very worried about his safety,” said branch manager Corinne Ross, who noted the dog should be on pain medication following his recent neutering.
Cooper and 13 other dogs arrived at the shelter last Friday after being seized along with two horses following a cruelty investigation at a home in the Vernon area.
The dogs were featured in local media this week and Ross thinks that could have prompted someone who wanted to skirt the formal adoption process, or even the former owner, to break into the kennels and make off with Cooper.
We don’t know the motive,” she said, adding the person responsible is believed to have jumped over a fence and cut through a chain-link gate that separated Cooper’s kennel from his outdoor run, all without setting off the building’s alarm.
Penticton RCMP spokesman Sgt. Rick Dellebuur said dognappings are “unusual.”
“It’s a rare occurrence, but it’s not unheard of that owners will jump a gate to get back what they feel is their property,” he said.
The other dogs left at the shelter from the Vernon seizure include two adult Rottweilers and 11 Carlin Pinschers, which Ross said are a small breed that resemble miniature Rottweilers.
Of the 11 small dogs, four are puppies about five weeks old, while the rest, including their mother, are adults.
“They are pretty scared, so some of them are going to be more difficult to adopt than others,” said Ross, adding Cooper was the friendliest of the bunch.
“They kind of need to go to a quiet home where perhaps there aren’t younger kids, where they can have some one-on-one time and some quiet introductions to new situations.”
The adult dogs are being spayed and neutered this week and are available for adoption, while the puppies aren’t ready to go quite yet.
Even if you can’t adopt one of the dogs, the branch would appreciate other forms of assistance to deal with the sudden influx of canines.
“Anybody that can help us with a small donation would be amazing,” Ross said.
