Teens charges upgraded to animal cruelty after four puppies stolen from Edmonton

A teenager has been charged with animal cruelty after golden retriever puppies were allegedly stolen from a Gordonvale home.

A teenager has been charged with animal cruelty after golden retriever puppies were allegedly stolen from a Gordonvale home.

A 16-year-old Manunda boy, who police will allege was in the company of others, forced entry to the Edmonton home and the two-week old puppies, along with a Mazda coupe and jewellery were stolen.

Police allegedly located one of the stolen puppies hidden on the floor behind a bed, in the corner of a room at an Edmonton home.

It will be further alleged that the puppy was prematurely removed from its home and adequate food, hydration and proper shelter was not provided.

The 16-year-old boy was charged with animal cruelty, unlawful possession of stolen property and five counts of breaching a bail condition.

He was refused police bail and is scheduled to appear in the Cairns Childrens Court at a later date.

Four two-week old Golden Retriever were allegedly stolen from a Gordonvale residence.

A further two teenagers have been charged following investigations into the theft.

Extensive police investigations led to the recovery of all four stolen puppies who were each located at different homes on the south-side of Cairns.

A total of seven teenagers aged between 14 and 18-years have now been charged.

A 15-year-old Bentley Park boy was charged with entering a dwelling and receiving tainted property.

He was further charged with possessing of a dangerous drug, possession of a drug utensil, entering a dwelling and attempting to enter of dwelling.

He was refused police bail and is scheduled to appear in the Cairns Childrens court.

An 18-year-old Bentley Park man was charged with entering a dwelling and receiving tainted property.

He is scheduled to appear in the Cairns Magistrates Court on December 4.

Two 17-year-old Bentley Park boys, a 14-year-old Manunda boy, a 16-year-old Manunda boy, and a 16-year-old Woree boy were previously charged over the incident.

The owner of the four stolen golden retriever puppies has spoken of the moment she was reunited with her dogs, saying she “can’t believe how lucky we’ve been”.

Three teens have been charged with the theft and another is in custody after authorities were called to an Accatino Close property in Gordonvale on Wednesday.

Dog owner Andrea White said the final pup was delivered by two police cars and eight officers, with mama dog Karma greeting them all at the door.

“She met them at the front door and when I brought the puppy down for her to sniff she got so excited like, ‘yes that’s my baby.’ The puppy latched onto mum immediately and had a belly full of milk and now she’s asleep with her siblings,” Ms White said.

“Thank God and thank the QPS. The police and community have been amazing. I can’t believe how lucky we’ve been.”

Edmonton resident Andrea White returned home Wednesday afternoon to find her house broken into, her belongings ransacked and 4 of her 10 three week old Golden Retriever puppies stolen. After a sleepless night, the last of the four puppies was returned to Andrea at lunchtime on Thursday. Picture: Brendan Radke

Earlier Ms White had been walking home from work to check on her dog Karma and her two-week-old puppies, on Wednesday afternoon, when she allegedly saw her car drive past.

“Obviously that set alarm bells because I knew (the car) was locked in the garage. I rang my sister and told her I thought I was going home to a break-in,” Ms White said.

“I came home and the roller door was a little bit up and I could see stuff had been moved around the garage. I rang triple-0 and the house was (allegedly) ransacked. I went straight to the puppies, counted them and realised four of them were missing.”

“You can replace possessions but you can’t replace life.”

Three of the pups had been returned to Ms White by 9am, Thursday morning.

Police will allege four two-week-old puppies were stolen, as well as a grey Mazda MX-5 coup and jewellery.

Edmonton resident Andrea White returned home Wednesday afternoon to find her house broken into. Picture: Brendan Radke

The vehicle was found abandoned on Blackbird Close at Bentley Park but the puppies were not inside.

Police attended a residence in Woree at 9.55pm on Wednesday night where they say they found a 16-year-old Woree boy in possession of one of the puppies.

Acting officer in charge of the property crime squad Senior Sergeant Kristy Place said police were in a “race against time” to recover the puppies and return them to their mother.

“We had officers working through the night following leads and they picked up the scent of these offenders,” she said.

“We were all very motivated to get these puppies back.

“A lot of the officers of the tactical crime squad are big puppy dogs and love puppies themselves so they were very excited to bring these puppies back home to mum.”

Around 2am this morning, November 16, police attended an Edmonton home and located a 16-year-old Bentley Park boy alleged to be involved in the theft of the puppies.

Police located one of the puppies allegedly hidden under a bed.

Police seized the allegedly stolen puppy along with jewellery and clothing from the Edmonton home.

The remaining two puppies were located at two nearby homes this morning.

Another 17-year-old Bently Park boy was charged with entering a dwelling and receiving tainted property and another person is in custody and assisting with police enquieries.

All three boys who have been charged have been refused bail and are scheduled to appear in Cairns Childrens Court.

Originally published as Teens charges upgraded to animal cruelty after four puppies stolen from Edmonton