Four german shepherd pups found after stolen from Thomastown backyard
Four german shepherd puppies stolen from a house in Melbourne’s north in a mid-afternoon heist have been reunited with their owners after being dumped in a front yard. Now, the hunt is on to catch the thieves.
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Four six-week-old German shepherd puppies stolen from a Thomastown backyard have been reunited with their owners.
The “panicked” thieves, who remain on the run, dumped the pups in the front yard of a nearby house this morning, where they were found by a mum walking her daughter to school in Oxford Drive about 8.30am.
Mill Park Senior Constable Michael McAuley said they believed the four puppies were dumped between 8am and 8.30am.
He said the offenders probably felt “too much heat” from a huge social media push to find the stolen dogs and decided to discard them.
“Fortunately for us and the victims they’ve got scared and left them there,” Sen-Constable McAuley said.
“It generated so much public interest that they’ve panicked and left the puppies and now the victim’s got them back, it’s a great result.
“The victim was very excited and thankful to receive the puppies back – he has no idea who could have done this to him.”
The puppies owner Mahzyar Farokhnejad said he couldn’t be happier.
He said he couldn’t sleep last night and neither could the pups mum Mila, who was barking “way too much” all night.
“She was very upset that her pups were gone,” he said.
“I thought they would be safe at my house, stealing puppies is just the saddest thing you could do.”
The puppies were stolen from Mr Farokhnejad’s Smith Ave backyard about 2.30pm on Tuesday when a man knocked on the front door and asked if the neighbours were home.
That distracted Mr Farokhnejad’s girlfriend while it’s believed an accomplice went into the backyard, tied up the mum and took the puppies.
She then went out to the backyard and found the puppies were missing and the back side gate, which was always locked, wide open.
Mr Farokhnejad said the thieves must have known he was at work.
“Stealing a puppy is just the next level criminal,” he said.
“When they called me this morning and said the puppies were found next to my house it was a bit surprising.”
Mr Farokhnejad said he was thankful for the public’s assistance in spreading the message, which included sharing his Facebook post 2000 times in half a day.
Sen-Constable McAuley said anyone who saw any suspicious vehicles, people or activity around Oxford Drive this morning should contact police.
“Even anyone seen with the puppies and particularly anyone with CCTV in the area who may have got someone walking or driving to leave the puppies there to contact us,” he said.
“Essentially the person going to the front door yesterday could have been a decoy for the other person taking the puppies, so we’re looking for one to two offenders at least.”
The man was described as tall with a solid build and tanned skin.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
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