By Diana M. Alba / -news.com
Posted: 12/27/2010 11:30:29 PM MST
It may have come a day late, but his Christmas wish became a reality.
Following the theft Thursday, Estrada, 30, of Las Cruces posted a stolen-dog notice on Craigslist, along with an old photo of Bruno. That captured the attention of interested Las Crucens, some of whom began e-mailing the notice out to their contacts. It reached the Sun-News and was published as a brief article online Saturday, along with a noteworthy fact in the case: footage of the theft had been captured on the family's security surveillance system.
A man who took the dog from Estrada's parents' home was driving a two-tone, black-and-silver pickup, possibly an '80s model Chevy or GMC. Estrada, who frequently visits his parents' home, said his family had noticed the vehicle cruising the neighborhood several times over the past week.
Estrada said the family had reported the incident to authorities on Thursday upon discovering that Bruno's had disappeared. The police didn't take a copy of the video footage, but did take down an incident report, he said.
Estrada said Bruno was a gift to his father around April 2009. The friendly canine had endeared itself to the family, Estrada said, and his young son was heartbroken when Bruno went missing.
Sunday afternoon, Estrada said he received a phone call from a Mesquite man, who had discovered a German Shepherd munching from a bin near a pizza shop on Avenida de Mesilla a couple of days earlier. The man called the dog over to his vehicle, and it hopped in. Then, the man's wife happened across the article about the dog theft online, and the couple decided to contact Estrada. A few questions later, the couple confirmed the dog was indeed Bruno. And Estrada zipped down to Mesquite to pick up the missing pet.
The dog was in good health and didn't have any injuries.
Las Cruces police department spokesman Dan Trujillo said it wasn't possible to comment Monday about any trends in dog thefts. But he offered some tips to dog owners.
We recommend "to make sure that, if they're going to have their pets outdoors, have them behind closed and locked gates. Also, pets can be microchipped, that way if they're either lost or stolen, it would be easier to identify the owners."
Estrada said he's grateful not only to the man who found Bruno but also to the community. He said he believes the thief likely dumped Bruno when he realized that the theft had been captured on video.
Bruno was returned just in the nick of time. Estrada said he attempted to retrieve the video footage again from the security camera on Monday, but the system had already disposed of the file through an automated process. The family didn't have another copy.
Source: http://www.lcsun-news.com/dona_ana_news/ci_16955682?source=rss
Printer-friendly version here
No comments:
Post a Comment