Cold-Hearted Burglars Steal An Innocent Puppy Only To Learn It Has A Big Secret
Bringing your first puppy home is a memory that few people forget. It drastically changes your life for the better and you get a warm feeling knowing that it's your dog and it's going to be a big part of your life for the foreseeable future. That's exactly how one Australian family felt when they brought home their new puppy, Sasha. However, their joy was short-lived when they came home to find that their house had been burglarized and their puppy was gone.
Love At First Sight
When Australia couple Ryan Hood and Elena Sardi brought home Sasha, their new yellow Labrador retriever puppy, they knew that she was a perfect match for their family. Their four-year-old daughter, Maia, thought so too.
She could barely contain her excitement when the new pup finally made its way through the front doors. Their lives were about to change, and the whole family was excited about this new chapter in their lives.
An Instant Bond
As soon as Sasha came through the door, it was clear that Maia and the puppy had a close connection. Being an only child, Maia sometimes felt lonely without a brother or sister, but her parents weren't planning on adding another child to the family anytime soon.
Instead, they thought getting a puppy would be good for their daughter — and it was! The family immediately felt complete with their newest member.
They Were Meant To Be A Family
Elena said, "We picked Sasha and she picked us." From the moment they brought Sasha home, the puppy and their daughter Maia became inseparable and were spending every waking moment together.
They formed an incredibly strong bond in a short amount of time and Maia now had a companion like she never had experienced before. This is what made it so hard when the unthinkable happened to the family just days after adopting Sasha.
The Day When Everything Changed
Then, one day, the family went together to have routine checkups by their family doctor and left their new puppy at home. Not thinking much of it except hoping that Sasha wouldn't chew up their furniture, they felt safe leaving their new puppy behind.
Unfortunately, something horrible happened, and their house was burglarized in the short time that the family was away from home.
They Were Shocked When They Got Home
They returned home from the doctor's only to discover that they had been robbed in such a short amount of time. There were clear signs of a break-in, but they didn't know the kind of damage that had been done.
The burglars took off with many of their valuables such as iPads, a laptop, jewelry, and just about anything worth of value.
A Terrible Discovery
While the family was very shaken that somebody had not only been in their home, but gone through and stolen many of their belongings, that wasn't the worst of it. They couldn't find their innocent puppy Sasha.
Everything that had been taken by the burglar had been replaceable and meaningless for the most part. However, their new dog on the other hand, was not. The family was devastated, but Maia took the loss the hardest.
The Family Was Heartbroken
After the kidnapping of their precious Sasha, Elena said in an interview shortly after, "I was heartbroken, I'm still shaking … we are really sad [...] "I don't care about the rest, but the dog, we want her home as soon as possible."
While some people, unfortunately, experience a break-in at some point in their life, not many people can claim that they've had their dog stolen, especially such a young puppy.
It Didn't Matter How Long They Had Her For
Although the family had only adopted Sasha about a week before she went missing, it didn't make losing her any less hard. The puppy had become an instant part of the family and now a staple of their home.
On top of all that, Maia had considered their new puppy to be her best friend. So, not only did she lose her new dog but her new friend too, something no young girl should experience.
Maia Was Distraught
Since the family first adopted Sasha, Maia had let her sleep in her bed with her. The two had developed quite a deep bond in just the one week that they had shared together.
Now, just like that, Sasha was gone and Maia didn't know what to do about the situation. Her father, Ryan, commented, "It's been tough, my daughter has had nightmares the first night." All she wanted was to have her puppy back home.
It Was A Hard Thing To Explain
Ryan also discussed how difficult it was to explain to Maia, who was just four years old. He said, "It's very difficult to explain to a four-year-old how something like this could happen, you never think that they would take a puppy."
Trying to explain why someone stole your puppy to a child is something that no parent should have to do or young child should experience. It was clear that the whole family was affected by the terrible circumstances.
They Still Had Hope
While everything might have seemed to be going wrong, there was a silver lining. What the burglars didn't know was that Sasha had a secret of her own. She had been microchipped after the family had adopted her so that she could be identified if she was ever lost and taken to a shelter.
Chances are, the burglars weren't thinking about the possibility of that when they heartlessly stole her from the family's home and their daughter.
What Is A Microchip?
It's always a good idea to get your dog microchipped if you have the opportunity. It's a fairly inexpensive process and the microchip itself is no bigger than a grain of rice.
The chip is painlessly implanted in the dog's neck and happens so fast that the dog doesn't even know what happened. While the microchip can't act as a GPS to locate a lost animal, it can be used to trace a dog back to its rightful owner.
What This Meant For Sasha
When Maia's parents had Sasha microchipped when they first got her, Sasha was given a personalized identification number so that veterinarians or shelter volunteers would know that she has an owner.
Her information would say that she belonged to the family, where her home is, and a contact number so that the family could be informed where she was. Little did they know that having Sasha microchipped would turn out to be a saving grace for their family.
Sasha Could Still Be Found
Although the microchips are incredibly small, the technology of the chip allows for detailed information such as the dog's name, the owner's name, the owner's phone number, and their home address.
The chips are scanned using a special device which shows all of the dog's information in order to get the dog back to their owner. The family knew that Sasha was microchipped and hoped that she would end up in the hands of a veterinarian or an animal shelter.
The Microchips Are Effective
For the most part, almost all veterinary clinics or animal care facilities have the kind of technology necessary to read chips that have been implanted in pets. So, if Sasha ended up in some kind of animal facility, they would be able to read the chip and determine who she belonged to and would hopefully be returned.
Knowing that this was a possibility filled the family with the hope that Sasha would eventually be returned to them.
They Took Matters Into Their Own Hands
The family was still devastated about Sasha and decided to take matters into their own hands. Their house felt empty without their little puppy and they couldn't stand it anymore.
So, they made a public announcement that if their Sasha wasn't safely returned to them the criminals would risk being located if the microchip was scanned. While most people know that the microchip doesn't work as a GPS, the family thought that it might be worth a try to act like it was.
Using Social Media To Their Advantage
The family also used social media to their advantage. They posted their story to spread awareness about their stolen puppy hoping that somebody would have some information. This turned out to be a huge help, as local news stations picked up the story as well and shared it with the community at large.
This meant that people were keeping their eye out for the missing puppy which probably scared the burglars a fair amount as well.
More Support From The Community
People were appalled that somebody would be so terrible as to steal a puppy and wanted to help bring her home. Even the Victoria Police got involved with the case and shared the family's story on their social media.
Sasha's disappearance was the subject of news outlets everywhere as everyone wanted to see her return home. Since there was no guarantee that the puppy would be returned safely, all the family could do was anxiously wait.
They Couldn't Believe It
Although the family hadn't given up hope, every day without Sasha made the situation more and more unbearable. But then, something incredible happened.
Speaking to the news, Ryan said: "We didn't want to get our hopes up [...] And then this morning, my wife got up to make herself a coffee and walked past the sliding door, and noticed there was a figure moving in the kennel." Sasha had been secretly returned in the middle of the night!
A Family Once Again
Ryan continued, "We think that whoever took her has either had a conscience or got scared and dropped her over the fence [...] We don't care, to be honest, we're just glad to have her back.
While giving the puppy back doesn't absolve the burglars from their crimes, they did at least one right thing in the end. The whole family was rejoicing over the return of their beloved puppy, but nobody was as happy as Maia to have her friend back.
Follow our brand for more content like this