Police Search for Puppy Stolen from Home

A four-month-old pit bull puppy was stolen from a home on the 8800 block of South 51st Avenue sometime during the early morning hours of March 18.

said the 31-year-old owner went to sleep with his two other pit bulls in his bed and assumed that the puppy, named Rhino, was sleeping on the couch in the living room. When he woke up the next morning, Rhino was gone.

The owner reported the puppy missing on March 25. According to the report, the owner said that a friend witnessed Rhino’s theft.

The friend was driving back from a bar with another many during the night and both stopped off at the owner’s house presumably to use the bathroom. As the friend urinated on a tree outside of Rhino’s owner’s house, the other man disappeared.

When the friend finished using the tree, he said that the other man was inside the car yelling at him to hurry up. Police said when the friend got back into the car Rhino was in the back seat.

The friend asked the other man why the puppy was in the car, and the man said that he went into the owner’s house and took Rhino. They drove back to the man’s house and the friend said that was the last time he saw the puppy.

Police went to the man’s home to try to find Rhino. They spoke to the man’s parents who said their son was not home and that they had not seen a pit bull puppy. Calls to reach the man were unsuccessful.

Rhino is described as being gray and white. The owner said he paid $200 for the puppy. He will press charges against the other man if Rhino is found.