Vango, an Australian shepherd puppy who is five months old, may have contributed to his own rescue when he informed staff at a pet shop in Gatineau, Quebec, about his alleged dognapping.
Vango visited Au Royaume des Animaux on Monday with a couple who usually came in to purchase cat food, according to Yves Jodoin, a member of staff and a canine trainer there.
Jodoin recalled that the dog was “barking, poking, and really trying to get my attention.”
When the pair appeared to be unaware of the dog’s age, whether he had been sterilized, what kind of food he consumed, or how much they had paid for him, Jodoin claimed he became immediately concerned.
Jodoin continued, “They were sidestepping the queries. The dog was still barking despite my efforts to give it treats.
Unaccounted for
A colleague searched social media for reports of stolen dogs in the meantime and quickly found a picture of Vango. Barely two and a half hours earlier, the dog’s Buckingham, Quebec, home had been reported stolen.
Jodoin had raised Vango from a puppy, so he instantly realized he was familiar with the dog.
Then I shouted, ‘Vango, hurry!Jodoin remembered that the dog began to jump in response. “Hey, I’m not the dog they say I am,” he repeatedly barked and prodded.
In the woods, according to the pair, they had discovered the dog. Jodoin was told by the woman that she needed to keep the dog as a service animal because she was in poor health and couldn’t afford to get and train a dog.
Jodoin urged the couple to give up the animal while the couple was surrounded by onlookers at the store. Next, he made contact with Josée Francoeur, Vango’s rightful owner.
“I cry just thinking about it”
Francoeur described her reaction to receiving Jodoin’s call: “I can’t talk about it without crying.”
After she let the canine out to use the restroom in her enclosed yard at around nine in the morning, Francoeur claimed the dog vanished. Monday. Vango, who was not microchipped, was no longer there as she peered out the door.
Does he have a chance of being kidnapped? Who could have done that, I wondered? You cannot do that!”
Francoeur posted a notification about missing animals as soon as possible on other social media platforms and on the website of the neighborhood SPCA. She went about her neighborhood sobbing, asking everyone she encountered if they had seen her canine. An official missing dog report was eventually typed by a police officer who stepped in at one time to assist.
Her phone rang just as she was about to give up hope.
Imagine, I would have lost my dog for good, said Francoeur, if those people hadn’t gone to the pet shop.
complaint to the cops
Because she wants the couple to grasp the repercussions of their behavior, she has now filed a police report.
I don’t want to make things difficult for them. The reason they did it is unknown to us. Francoeur continued, “But at the same moment, they took my baby. I’m trying to get people to stop doing this.
The dog was discovered, according to Gatineau police, who said they are still looking into the matter but won’t press charges until they can prove the couple intentionally stole the dog.
The incident is being used by the SPCA de L’Outaouais to remind dog owners to have their pets microchipped. The couple had gone there that morning to register Vango with a new name.
To get Vango tagged, Francoeur claimed to have scheduled a time.
She argued that “everything could have been avoided.”