FORT WAYNE, Ind., (WANE) – A late night robbery a day before Christmas Eve left the Petland Store at 10538 Maysville Road with three less puppies.

The suspect or suspects snatched three purebred dogs, along with about $20,000 dollars in merchandise.

Employees found out about the robbery early Thursday.

“At 7 o’clock my kennel manager and staff came in to feed the puppies and clear the kennels and everything,” recalled store owner Kit Farrar. “That’s when my kennel manager noticed something was wrong.”

Farrar rushed in to find the puppies missing, along with empty shelves and racks. The thieves took an English bulldog, Italian Greyhound, and Chiweenie, a Dachshund and Chihuahua mix.

Each of the pups was between nine to ten weeks old and anything but cheap.

“The bulldog is almost four thousand dollars, that’s our most expensive breed,” Farrar told NewsChannel 15. “We just want the puppies back safe. They’re very young and need to be returned immediately so they can continue their veterinary care.”

Farrar says the robbers pried their way in through the back dooor, and then kicked in his office door to steal the safe.

And they didn’t stop there.

“A whole bunch of our Eukanuba food, all our electronic collars, designer shampoos, retractable leashes, a bunch of filters from our fish department. It seemed like they were collecting the right things to take,” said Farrar.

Because of the volume and sizes of the items stolen, Farrar supsects more than one robber was involved. He says police were able to find a few fingerprints to analyze.

The store had no alarm, or cameras. There is some surveillance video from the nearby Wal-Mart that could help though. The possibility of the robbery being an inside job has just about been ruled out.

In the meantime, Farrar’s installed a deadbolt, and an alarm system is next. Police are also watching the building.

Petland’s partnered with a group called HelpMeFindMYPET to get the word out about the heist and they’re hoping for a safe return.

HelpmefindMYPET is an organization that helps recover lost ot stolen animals. It reports that the stolen puppies were all microchipped and enrolled in its registry. The group has sent out an alert for all three puppies and is working closely with Fort Wayne police to locate them.

If you have information on the stolen dogs, call HelpmefindMYPET’s 24 hour toll free hotline at 866-699-FIND (3463) or visit the website.

Technorati Tags: english bulldog, fort wayne, news, pet store robbed, robbery

Wait says the two men spent over an hour with him and his wife talking about bulldogs. He says it was clear the men were very familiar with the breed by the knowledge they had and the questions they asked.

Wait says finally, one of the suspects said he was going to his car to get the $1,500 needed to buy the puppy. He returned with a handgun.

Wait says the suspect, Alan Lara, pointed the gun at him and his wife and ordered them to go to the bathroom and shut the door. Wait says Lara’s partner, Alfredo Gonzalez Junior, helped Lara go through the house. The Waits say Lara and Gonzalez left with some cash, jewelry, phones, a purse, and the puppy they called Miss Brindie.

When the Waits were sure the suspects had gone, they escaped out of the bathroom. Cindy Wait ran to their neighbor’s house for help, while Dudley Wait ran to his Schertz EMS truck to use the radio to call in for help.

Thirty-six hours later, an alert police officer in Red Oak noticed the two suspects at a gas station. When they saw the officer, police say they tried to duck behind their car. The officer says he went to take a closer look and discovered all of the items in thebackseat that had been registered as stolen. Also among those items was Miss Brindie.

The Waits say they could not give enough credit to the Schertz police department and to that alert officer in Red Oak.

courtesy of Amanda Stanzilis / KENS 5

Technorati Tags: dog breeder, dudley wait, English Bulldog Puppy, news, robbery