Dog News

I Stole My Own Dog Back

by Katherine

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For eight weeks, the Falk family from New York city’s West Village neighborhood searched for Moey, their poodle-Bichon-Shih-Tzu mix, stolen on June, 25, 2014. The pet owners plastered the neighborhood with over 400 “Lost Dog” flyers, searched the area, reported the theft to police, checked area shelters and followed up on fictitious leads, but nothing they did brought them closer to finding their pet. Finally, after almost 2 months of searching, their beloved dog was found.

The pet was stolen when 52-year-old Peter Falk, tied the dog to a pole and crossed the street to talk to construction workers. When he turned around, Moey was gone.

The day the dog vanished, Moey was wearing his red leash and a colorful collar with all of his tags on –  rabies, dog license and name tag. What Yelena Falk never expected, was to find her dog outside someone else’s home still wearing his collar and tags.

Photo Credit: Yelena Falk
Photo Credit: Yelena Falk

The family was willing to pay a $1,000 reward to whoever gave them information leading to a happy reunion, but this same reward motivated many  scammers to contact the family with false information.

Finally, on August 18, Yelena received the call she had been waiting for.

According to AM New York, a good Samaritan who had no idea the dog had been stolen was concerned for the pet. The dog had been tied outside an apartment building for some days and the woman wanted to contact her neighbor – who she thought was the dog’s owner – and ask why the dog had been outside and neglected for so long.

The woman walked over to dog and dialed the phone number on the dog’s tag. When Yelena answered, the tipster was confused, but after all she gave Yelena the location of her dog.

That same day Yelena drove to Queens with her 78-year-old mother to get her dog back. She contacted local police first but the local precinct was unwilling to assist in the dog’s retrieval.

Determined to get her dog back, Yelena drove to the address without the authorities.

“As we got there, I saw my pup all alone, tied up outside,” said Yelena. “I then did the only sensible thing: Jumped out of the car, grabbed him, ran back to the car and sped off. You can say I stole my dog back!”

Thanks to the stupidity or right decision of the dog snatcher(s) to leave Moey’s own collar and tags on, the dog is back where he belongs.

“We are so, so happy! Life is good again!” Yelena said.