An irreplaceable custom-made harness for a volunteer search and rescue dog was stolen during the Pet-a-Palooza festival at St. Ann’s Academy on the weekend.
VicPD are asking for the public’s help to find the harness and several other items stolen on Aug.18 from the ninth anniversary of the pet festival hosted in the 800-block of Humboldt Street.
Has anyone in #yyj seen this harness? It was stolen from a #SearchAndRescue display booth overnight.
I believe that @vicpdcanada are handling the case (please correct me if I'm wrong).
The harness is custom made and has irreplaceable deployment patches on it. pic.twitter.com/STuL4lTwob
— Kevin Lacquement (@lacqui) August 20, 2018
Several Pet-a-Palooza vendors reported that items had been stolen after 5:30 p.m. on Saturday night.
Among the items reported stolen is the harness worn by volunteer search and rescue dog Moxxii. This harness, used by S&R K9 Moxxii and her handler when deployed, is a key piece of safety equipment, say VicPD. In addition to being an essential part of Moxxii’s kit, the harness has irreplaceable patches sewn on it – gifts to Moxxii and her handler from military members serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The harness is olive green with handles, USAR patches and insignia on it.
Other items stolen include colourful embroidered dog collars, a blue suitcase, metal tote bins and more.
If you have any information about these thefts or have seen these items call the VicPD non-emergency line at (250) 995-7654 or to report what you know anonymously, call Greater Victoria Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
