Monterey County Animal Shelter staff asking for help locating stolen puppy

UPDATED 9/17/18 9:00 p.m.: A puppy stolen from the Monterey County Animal shelter less than a week before it was supposed to go home with its adopted family.

It happened during a break-in at the Salinas shelter on Hitchcock Road.

The three and a half month old lab mix was to go home with an adoptive family this week before thieves broke into the shelter and committed a “dognapping”.

“Sometime around late Friday night [or] early Saturday morning a fence was cut and a kennel lock was cut and a puppy was stolen from the shelter,” said Rob Durham with the Monterey County Environmental Health Bureau.

Salinas police were called immediately but they’re unsure if the puppy was the thieves’ target.

“The hole that was cut out on the fence was near where the puppy was at so it might have been just the proximity to the exit, entry point,” Miguel Cabrera with the Salinas Police Department said.

Right now the shelter and police are going through hours of surveillance footage, hoping security cameras captured images that will help bring the puppy back to his rightful owners.

“They’re out a dog that they got partnered with. They went through the process, they met the dog and so it’s unfair to them that they didn’t get the dog they deserve even though they went through the process because someone circumvented the process,” Durham said.

The shelter plans on reviewing their security measures to prevent something like this from happening again.

PREVIOUS STORY: Monterey County Animal Services needs the public’s help finding a puppy stolen from the county shelter Friday night.

The puppy was found missing by workers early Saturday morning and the staff believes if was the target of thieves who broke into the shelter and kidnapped the dog.

It’s a 3 1/2 month old male Labrador mix. It’s black with white on his paws and chest.

The puppy was going to be picked up this week by a local family who had adopted it.

Salinas Police are investigating the break-in and shelter workers are reviewing surveillance footage in hopes of identifying the thieves.

If you have any information that might help, please call Monterey County Animal Services at 769-8850 or the Salinas Police Department.