Taxi driver rescues stolen puppy Charlie

A TAXI driver paid a passenger $100 and gave up his $240 sunglasses to rescue a puppy named Charlie that CCTV shows being stolen by a woman from a backyard in Sydney’s west on Sunday.

A TAXI driver paid a passenger $100 and gave up his $240 sunglasses to rescue a puppy that had been stolen from a Doonside home on Sunday.

It was an act which has left Charlie the puppy’s family overwhelmed after they picked up their beloved pet from Blacktown Veterinary Hospital last night.

Sayed Qaisar, from Seven Hills, picked up a woman in his taxi from a home in Carlingford about 9.30pm on Sunday and quickly noticed something wasn’t right.

“The woman asked me to take her to another home in Carlingford to drop off the dog,” he said.

Josh Collins and Charlie the puppy reunited in Doonside. Picture: Supplied

Mr Qaisar, who owns a labrador himself, said the woman was agitated, inconsistent in her stories and was unable to control Charlie, who was crying “like he was hungry”.

“I asked what her dog’s name was and she said it was her dad’s dog,” he said. “But she had already said it was hers.

“She went inside but then came back with the dog saying her dad wasn’t home.

“I asked her if she wanted to sell the dog and she said, ‘Yes’.”

Mr Qaisar said the woman asked for $200 — a new labrador pup is worth up to $1500 — but he managed to haggle her down to $100 in cash: “She took my sunglasses as well.”

Mr Collins and Hayley Goddard-Brown with their daughter Imogen, 7 months. Picture: Heath Parkes-Hupton

He kept Charlie at his home for the next day to feed and bath him before taking the pet to the vet hospital after hearing reports of a stolen puppy on the radio.

An unknown woman was caught on camera taking Charlie from his Mundin St backyard while his owners Josh Collins, Hayley Goddard-Brown and baby Imogen slept on Sunday morning, sparking a desperate search and police investigation.

“We got a call from the vet last night saying he had been taken there,” Ms Goddard-Brown said.

CCTV of a woman who stole a dog from a Doonside home on Sunday. Picture: Supplied

“It’s amazing. He got so excited when he saw us. He was wagging his tail.

“We are just so grateful. If he hadn’t got Charlie, God knows where he could have ended up.”

However, Mr Qaisar said the woman caught on CCTV taking Charlie wasn’t the same person that was in his cab.

“If the police show me a picture I can tell them 100 per cent (who it was),” he said.

Police have been notified of the update.