They were on a holiday in city with their pair of expensive ‘Shih Tzu’ breed 

Mysuru: There seems to be an organised gang that steals pet dogs from homes in city and last afternoon, a pair of expensive male and a female ‘Shih Tzu’ breed dogs that was brought from Mumbai by the pet owner was stolen from Hebbal. The dog owner has approached the Metagalli Police Station and the Police have formed a team to trace the thieves. The ‘Shih Tzu’ is a sturdy, lively, alert toy dog with long flowing double coat.

It may be recalled here that on Dec. 23, Star of Mysore had published a report “Dognapping: Illegal Canine Trading on the Rise in Mysuru” where a series of incidents of Dognapping (stealing a dog, especially in order to sell it) were highlighted to bring the criminals to book. 

The latest dog theft has been reported from a bungalow in Loknayaknagar in Hebbal, behind Kaveri Grameena Bank. The dogs are owned by Shruthi and Vishal Valiya, residents of Mumbai who had come to Mysuru on a five-day vacation. Shruthi had got both the pets from Mumbai. Her friend Nidhi called up Star of Mysore this morning to report the theft seeing the report that was published in these columns on Dec. 23. 

Shruthi’s in-laws had shifted to Mysuru four months back and she and her husband landed in Mysuru two days back. The male dog is Smurfy, seven years old and is brown coloured with a little white while the female is Coral, 1.5 years, majorly white coloured with a little brown spots. 

Yesterday afternoon, the couple had been to a friend’s place in city to see a newborn baby and had left the dogs with Vishal’s mother. “My mother-in-law was with the dogs inside the house and she had been to her bedroom for some moments to put the dried clothes while the pets were sleeping. Somehow, two Honda Activa-borne miscreants entered the compound and I think they were watching my mother-in-law’s movements. As they are small breed, they easily took away the female dog and placed it on the scooter’s front portion,” Shruthi said.  

“Seeing the female being taken away, the male dog, very protective about her, ran behind the thieves and hopped onto the scooter. They later fled from the spot. The sequence has been recorded on CCTV camera in a neighbour’s house and the visuals have been handed over to the Metagalli Police,” she said.  

She added that her mother-in-law had knee pain and was slow in her movements. “My mother-in-law called me up when we were inside Palace and we rushed home and began frantically searching for the pets,”     she said. 

Shruthi’s friend Nidhi said that the female dog was in heat and if it is sold to a kennel and crossed now, the kennel owner can earn in lakhs. A ‘Shih Tzu’ puppy can cost Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 30,000. She alleged that the Metagalli Police were not ready to file an FIR in this regard and Shruthi, who approached the Police Station, was told that they (Police) have to consult their seniors to book an FIR. 

Metagalli Inspector Raghavendra Gowda, however, told SOM that they have taken the theft very seriously and they were looking for the thieves. “We have got the CCTV footage from Shruthi and the visuals are hazy and we cannot identify the vehicle number plate. A team has been formed to trace the thieves and we are examining the footages from other CCTV cameras in the area. They will be arrested soon and the pets will be handed over to the owner,” he said.